


Human

by Loli_blue



Category: Glee
Genre: All the sci-fi, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Bad Boys' Love, Don't jugde me, Klaine, M/M, Robots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-26
Updated: 2013-10-10
Packaged: 2017-12-03 17:18:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 23
Words: 112,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/700746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loli_blue/pseuds/Loli_blue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What makes someone human?A heartbeat? A DNA code? What happens when you fall in love for someone that doesn't have any of those things, but is still the most amazing and caring person you ever met? AU. Sci-fi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The grumpy man and the freckled newbie

**

Prologue

**

**Federal Decree number 2761-** _All the machines dotted with artificial intelligence cannot be considered or treated as human. Any kind of artificial technology such as machines and robots don't have rights in the established society._

**Federal Decree number 2762-** _The integrity of all the models of domestic or industrial robots is entirely the responsibility of their respective owners and these can have use of their machines in the way they want, providing that they never treat their machines as an equal. Infringing that condition can result in the seizure of the form of artificial intelligence followed by its destruction._

**Federal law number 2763-A-** _Humanoid machines are strictly forbidden. Domestic models can have four members and walk on two feet, but insertion of any other human factor that allows the machine expression or resemblance to the form of a human being will be considered illegal, and will be punished with financial penalty followed by seizure and destruction of the irregular machine._

**Federal law number 2763-B-** _All the humanoid models of androids and robots fabricated previous to the institutionalization of law 2763-A must be destroyed and their respective owners financially compensated._

  


**Chapter 1**

**The grumpy man and the freckled newbie**

_"There is no such thing as humanity in robots. They are instruments, utensils. Nothing more than that."_

That was the motto of the federal division where Walter Anderson worked. He, along with everyone else there, was responsible for the administration, seizure and destruction of all irregular forms of artificial intelligence. The division was founded after the murder of Adam Jenkins by his humanoid android for sexual satisfaction, 182717-F, also known as "Sarah."

Adam's death inflamed thousands of movements and conservative organizations that were against the "humanization of the machines," forcing the government to institutionalize laws regulating the situation of all non-human and artificial intelligence, officiating their status as utensils, instruments and denying them any kind of rights.

It was to finish an investigation of acquisition of illegal technology and avoid a possible attempt at the building of an irregular form of artificial intelligence that Walter Anderson was going to Lima Heights, the worst neighborhood in all of Ohio. He had investigated this case for months, and his new mission seemed really simple for him. He just needed to go to Burt Hummel's residence and destroy any model of robot that didn't attend to the specifications established by law.

It was raining as Walter and his new partner, Penny White, made their way down the streets of that forgotten place. All over the dirty streets were scrapped robots doing the human's work, not seeming to care about the pouring rain that fell onto their cold metal.

They were domestic robots and walked on two feet, but like all other legal androids they were faceless, looking like the grey ghosts that haunted Walter's childhood nightmares.

"Walter! Walter! What you think we are going to find in this Hummel house?" Penny squealed, her excitement with her first mission bringing her partner back to reality.

"Calm down, newbie, we probably are going to find another pervert trying to build a cool sex toy, don't get too excited. It will be gross, I can assure you of that," Walter assured her, keeping his eyes on the road bored.

The ginger haired girl furrowed her eyebrows in disappointment, crossing her arms above her chest. She knew that Anderson was an old and bitter man even before she met him. All in the division knew his history, but she didn't knew that he would be that harsh.

Walter used to work in Homicide at the Police Department, and he was the best murder detective in history of the 198th district. But after his elder son, Cooper Anderson, was killed during a robbery, the curly haired man never managed to step onto a crime scene again.

He came to the Federal Division of Technology Control years later, seeking a place where he wouldn't find anything that could remind him of his son's death. And Walter did find what he was looking for. The only thing he had to deal with there was illegal acquisitions of technology, and sometimes the destruction of irregular forms of artificial intelligence.

"Well, maybe Burt Hummel is a terrorist and is building an android army!" Penny teased, trying to make Walter laugh a little.

"Sure, because they would send an old man and a newbie to fight against a terrorist and his android army!" Walter sarcastically said, rolling his hazel eyes. He probably had pissed his boss off really badly with his comments about weight. That was the only thing that could explain why he had been partnered with the freckled, hyperactive newbie.

"I was just kidding..." Penny murmured, biting her lower lip; apparently getting along well with her partner wasn't going to be an option.

"I know, I'm sorry, Penelope. I quit smoking yesterday. I think I'm a little grumpy," the gray haired man apologized, feeling slightly guilty. He couldn't blame Penny for her excitement. On his first case in Homicide, he had been even more excited than the ginger haired girl was now.

"Give me the nicotine gum out of there," he asked, gesturing to the small compartment in the panel of his car.

"Who is this?" Penny asked, pointing to a young hazel eyed boy in a creased picture that she found next to the gum. He looked a little like Walter, with curly hair and hazel eyes, but his skin was a different tone. It was olive, not pale like Walter's, and the boy looked to be shorter.

"My younger son, Blaine," Walter dryly replied, praying to God that Penny's questions would end with his answer. He didn't want talk about Blaine, his happy, puppy-like little boy that used to follow him around saying that he wanted to be just like his "daddy."

"He lives with you?" The girl inquired, not noticing her partner's clear discomfort.

"No, he lives with his mother."

Walter had left home a few weeks after Cooper's death. He just couldn't live in that house anymore. There were too many memories in that place. All over the walls were Cooper's pictures, his room was still messy, and his voice was still recorded on the answering machine. His older son's presence was everywhere and Blaine kept asking for his big brother, making the guilty feeling that Walter carried bigger and heavier as the days passed.

Walter was supposed to pick up Cooper after school on the day he died, but once again he got stuck at work and had to call his older son, saying that he wouldn't get there on time. The curly headed man didn't know that a drug addict would cross his son's path and stab Cooper, trying to steal his watch to buy his next "fix." But knowing that now didn't make him feel any less responsible for his son's death.

It was his job to be there for Cooper, protecting him, but he had been too busy with work, trying to impress his boss and earn a big promotion.

There wasn't a single night in the past years, which Walter hadn't spent awake, trying to remember his last words to his son. Had he said "I love you," or "You make me proud?" Walter couldn't remember, and that was what hurt the most.

"He is cute," Penny spoke softly, running her pink fingernail above the picture.

"This is just an old picture. Blaine doesn't even look like that anymore. Give it to me," he said, grabbing the picture out of Penny's hands and shoving it into his pocket. He was being rude to the rookie again, but this time he didn't care. She was bringing back bad memories and he didn't want talk about Blaine, about how he left the boy behind.

"Here, this is the place," Walter muttered, parking in front of an old building. A broken and almost unreadable sign hanging above the front door said "Hummel Tires and Lube," and the walls were stained and blackened by moisture, giving the place the appearance of an abandoned building.

"So, let's catch your terrorist and destroy his android army then!" Penny playfully joked, trying to light the mood between them and failing once again.

"Whatever you want, kid," Walter grumbled, rolling his eyes and taking another piece of nicotine gum.

**

********

**

Penny rang the doorbell several times, calling for Mr. Hummel. She was amazed by the fact that someone suspected of illegal possession of technology still used such an archaic thing as a doorbell.

"Give up, we are going in," Walter muttered angrily. He hated when the suspects made things more difficult for him. He was almost fifty years old, for God sake! Kicking down a door wasn't as easy as it was when he was twenty anymore.

Walter had to kick the door three times before it finally opened, revealing a dark and cramped hall.

"Get your gun," Walter whispered to Penny, having a bad feeling about that place. Something wasn't right; all his instincts were telling him that.

"Y-you did say that it would be just a pervert?" Penny inquired, frightened. Yes, she was working in the field where she had always dreamed of working, but in technology apprehension, one would think they usually didn't have to use guns on the job.

"Just get your fucking gun!" Walter hissed. He wasn't letting that girl die, not his partner.

They walked through the hall holding their guns and lanterns. Covering the walls were what looked like thousands of pictures. Some of them were of a pretty woman and a man wearing a baseball cap, but most of them were of a pale, blue eyed boy. There were pictures of the boy as a baby, a child and even a teen, but there weren't any pictures of him looking any older than sixteen or seventeen.

"What did the records say about this Hummel, he has family?" Walter whispered, intrigued by the family pictures in the walls.

"His wife died giving birth to his only son, Kurt Hummel. Kurt died at the age of seventeen in a car crash ten years ago," Penny recited what she had memorized from reading Burt Hummel's file.

"Lost his wife and son, huh?" Walter murmured, already feeling sorry for this man. He understood that kind of pain, but at least he wasn't completely alone like Burt seemed to be. He still had Blaine, even if they didn't talk that much, and he still had a reason to live and not lose his mind, something that he wasn't sure if Burt Hummel had.

When they entered the living room the darkness still remained, but there was a small light coming from a closed door.

"There…" Penny whispered, pointing with her gun to the door that was the hidden source of the blue light slightly illumining the place.

They walked cautiously, crossing the living room and trying to not step on anything that could make a noise and scare the suspect. When they finally reached the closed door, Walter began counting silently, preparing himself to open that door and motioning Penny to position herself in safe place.

The young rookie nervously counted together with her partner, already feeling the adrenalin spreading through her veins as she tried suppress the fear that grew in her chest.

1…

2…

3…

__

__

__

__Bam! The door exploded inward, being kicked by Walter using all his strength.

"Federal Division of Technology Control, everybody down!" The curly haired man screamed, invading the room. Penny followed him next, angrily yelling that they were in an authorized operation and that all irregular technology should be given to them immediately.

Several seconds later, when the adrenalin rush of the impact faded away, both could look around, noticing that they were alone. The place was huge, a facility that could be easily confused with one of the labs of the Avalon Industries, the biggest producer of robotic technology.

The vast lab contained a big work bench covered with notes and books, and an almost innumerable number of network computers. Some were the most advanced models, while others seemed to belong to the last century, but all them were interconnected, showing in their screens an infinite combination of number and codes. Burt Hummel was probably was dealing with something really huge there. Walter couldn't remember seeing a place like that in all his years onFDTC,maybe Penny wasn't wrong about the terrorist thing after all.

"Penny, call backup," Walter whispered. "This place seems to deal with biotechnology as well."

"What? How you know that?" Penny gasped, tightening her grip around her gun. An illegal lab of biotechnology? That was something huge, way above their jurisdiction.

"You see that door?" Walter murmured, pointing to a metallic door in back of the room.

"That is a door to a cold room. Biotechnology labs usually have those things," he explained before dropping his voice in a hiss to the obviously frozen newbie. "Penny! Call backup now!"

The girl began to call backup as the older man advanced a few more steps, noticing that there was another door in that lab besides the one that gave access to the cold room door. It was hidden behind two double-sided biochemistry benches equipped with a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, more computers, and some tubes of water, gas and distilled water.

Walter silently walked to the door and before Penny could stop him, he opened the door with one hand, tightly griping his gun with the other, ready to shoot any threat that could be waiting for him inside of that room.

"Stop right there!" Walter screamed, pointing his gun at a pale human figure kneeling on the ground.

"P-Please h-help me," a cracked voice begged, coming from a boy with unbelievable blue eyes.

Walter stood, shocked by he was seeing, for several seconds. He couldn't believe his own eyes. In front of him was a blue eyed boy, the same boy that was in all the pictures covering the hall's walls.

"M-my d-dad isn't breathing, please help me," the boy pleaded, clutching at the clothes of an unconscious man fallen in front of him.

"Who are you?" Walter screamed, still pointing his gun at the shaking teen.

"K-Kurt Hummel. Please, help my dad!"

"That's impossible," Penny murmured, entering the room and standing beside her partner.

"What are you talking about? My dad is dying! Help him! Do something!" Kurt shouted angrily, not understanding why these people are here pointing guns at him and not doing anything to help his dad.

"You can't be Kurt Hummel," Penny stated, looking shocked.

"What? I am Kurt Hummel and this man here is my dad, Burt Hummel. He's not breathing, help him please!" the boy screamed desperately, tears falling down his face.

"You can't be Kurt Hummel," Walter affirmed, lowering his gun. "Kurt Hummel died ten years ago."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh by the way, thank you DEBORAH+WARREN for reviewing all Human chapters at once! And ChirpingEmu who also always let me know her thoughts on the story! :)


	2. The fearless pair of blue eyes

"What do the results say?" Walter asked Penny, who held a small, metallic device pointed in Kurt's direction.

"H-He is not human," she murmured, not believing the results that were shown by the screen of her "Humanity Assurance Device." The boy kneeling in front of her had to be human. His eyes, his expression, she had never seen or read about an android like that. He was even crying! She'd never seen a robot cry before. How could someone have built a machine so perfect as that?

"You! Get away from him!" Walter snorted, looking at Kurt.

"H-he's my dad, he is-" Kurt tried to speak. He didn't want be away from his dad, and he didn't understand why those people were there or why they were saying that he wasn't human. Why were they saying that? Why aren't they helping his dad?

"Just get away from him," Walter roughly interrupted Kurt pleas, making the boy take a few steps away from his dad.

"Penny, go check his vital signs," the old federal agent ordered, bringing his partner back from her shocked state.

"O-okay," the girl nodded, lowering her gun and kneeling beside Burt.

"Y-you can help him?" Kurt begged Penny, making her heart ache. No, she couldn't help Burt, he was already dead. There wasn't anything she could do to help him now.

"I'm sorry, kid, he's already gone," she said in a small voice, moved.

"No, he can't be dead. He can't...H-he was going to bake w-with me. He was going to pick up some eggs. H-he can't be dead!" Kurt violently burst out, throwing himself over his dad's body, trying to awake him up.

"Dad, please! Please!" The blue eyed boy screamed, clenching Burt's clothes. He couldn't be left alone, he couldn't. He didn't have anyone besides Burt.

Penny and Walter watched as the blue eyed android snapped above Burt's body. They didn't know what to do. The android wasn't a human. Kurt was a machine, and machines are cold, soulless instruments. They aren't supposed to look like that, so desperate, so human.

"P-Please, dad," Kurt whispered, burying his face in Burt's chest. His dad couldn't be dead. Those people had to be wrong.

"Get that thing away from the body!" Walter hissed as his voice cracked a little.

"You can't be serious!" Penny gasped, shocked at the apparent coldness of her partner.

"You know the rules, Penny, don't let that scene fool you. He is just a machine," Walter assured, trying to keep his rational side operating. He couldn't be fooled by a machine, his mission there was follow the protocol. Arrest the owner of the irregular form of artificial intelligence and destroy all the illegal forms of technology.

"You know the protocol," the curly haired man whispered, fighting with all his strength to not see that android in front of him as a human. He was a machine, a thing, not a boy. And Walter had a mission to accomplish.

" _You are honestly saying that you want to just follow the protocol in this case?_ I am the only one here seeing a boy that just lost his father?" Penny skeptically inquired, seeing more humanity in the android crying in front of them than in her own partner.

"Yes, I am seeing that, too! And that is exactly why we have to follow the protocol, because that thing isn't human, it's a machine programed to look human and it's our mission not to let this kind of thing happen! Or did you want another Adam Jenkins case on your hands?" Walter snapped, clenching his teeth seeing the shocked expression on his partner's face. "For all I know, that thing could have killed Burt Hummel and is now making a scene to play innocent!" he concluded, leaving Penny completely stunned.

"You know what Walter? Do it yourself, then! Follow your precious protocol! I am not killing a boy that has just lost his father!" The girl angrily hissed, shoving her Human Assurance device in Walter's chest. She wouldn't be part of that, she couldn't look in that boy's eyes and just shut down his system.

Walter grabbed the small device, gripping the thing tightly in his palms. He would do it, he had to do it. But surprisingly, even before Walter could approach the android, Kurt stood and looked into his eyes, paralyzing the curly haired man.

"You are going to kill me now?" he inquired as tears ran down his face.

"Y-you heard us?" Water asked, feeling like he was being drowned by the intense glare fixed on him.

"Just do it already," Kurt whispered, surprising Walter. "It's not like I have anything to live for anyway," he concluded, seconds after looking at his father's body. He was alone, completely alone. He didn't have a mother, he never had friends and the only person who ever loved him was dead. What reason did he have to live?

"B-but Kurt-" Penny tried to say, before the blue eyed android interrupted her.

"It's Penny, right?" Kurt asked, cracking a sad smile at her.

"Y-yeah," She confirmed, shuddering slightly.

"It's okay, Penny, if he thinks I'm not human, that I am a thing. He can follow his protocol," Kurt said to the freckle faced newbie before fixing his glare on Walter again.

"But when you push that button, know one thing Walter, I will die as a human being. That device of yours can say that I'm not, but I am human, my dad taught me that," Kurt spoke fearlessly. If the man would kill him, he would push that button knowing exactly what he was killing, another human being.

"A-alright," Walter whispered, holding the gray device close to Kurt's forehead. He would end it as quickly as he could. He would just type a code, push a button and send an electromagnet pulse through Kurt's body shutting down his system. It all would happen in matter of seconds and hopefully it would be painless.

"This will be painless," Walter assured him, not really understanding why he was saying that, why he was trying make things easier on a machine.

Penny began to sob loudly hearing Walter's words. How was he still capable of doing that insanity, even after hearing Kurt's words? She couldn't believe that her partner was capable of such a cruelty.

"What's the point of being human if you don't have any humanity in your heart?" she screamed between sobs, making Walter certain that the she would never forgive him after that.

But even then Walter continued. He had to. Penny might not understand him now, but one day she would. After all, he was doing the right thing, he was following the law and that was their obligation there. Not matter how convincing Kurt had been assuring his humanity, he wasn't human. And keeping that in mind, that he was doing the right thing, that Kurt wasn't human, Walter began to type the code for destruction of irregular forms of artificial intelligence.

But then Walter noticed that Kurt wasn't closing his eyes. The android had his piercing blue eyes fixed on him intrepidly. He was trembling lightly and some tears still ran down his pale face, but Kurt didn't beg for his life even once. He just kept his head raised, looking into his killer's eyes, because Kurt Hummel would never beg for anything. No, Kurt would be brave until the end, because that was what his dad taught him, be strong no matter what.

Seeing such a demonstration of courage made Walter's heart ache, because bravery was the most human of all the characteristics. Fight for survival? Begging? That was instinctive, any animal could do that. But only a man, a human being, could be brave for pride, could die for his beliefs. And Kurt believed in his humanity. He would die believing.

How was Walter supposed to push that button and just burn the android's system after such a demonstration of humanity? How he would live with himself after doing such thing?

"Fuck!" Walter hissed letting go of the silver object in his hand.

"W-what are you doing?" Kurt asked, seeing the man walking away from him.

"I don't know. I really don't have any idea what I am doing." Walter sighed heavily before arms suddenly wrapped tightly around him.

"I knew it! I knew it, you wouldn't kill him, Walter! You are a good man, Walter, a good man!" Penny squealed happily, giving her partner a tight hug.

"Calm down, newbie. I didn't shut him down, but backup will be here soon, and someone else will," Walter spoke, making her eyes turn watery again. "I'm sorry, Penny, but he is an illegal humanoid Android and the law is pretty clear about the fate of these things." the older man stated, feeling bad for hurting his partner's feelings.

"But we need keep him alive!" Penny yelled. Her eyes where shinning in a way that could only mean one thing; she had an idea.

"He is the only connection that we have to discover what happened here," she began to explain. "Burt Hummel was an ex-mechanic, living in crappy neighborhood. How could he afford all this, this facility? Someone was subsidizing him! And Kurt said that he was fine, that he was planning bake with him this morning. People don't suddenly die, maybe he was murdered!"

"You don't know that, Penny, the medical examiner hasn't even looked at the body yet, and you already talking about murder?" Walter spoke quietly, trying to keep things rational.

"Did your father have any chronic disease or health problems, Kurt?" Penny inquired of the android that still was confused with all that was happening.

"N-no, he was fine, t-then I went take a bath. And when I came back, he was on the ground unconscious," Kurt answered.

"See? That might be a homicide!" Penny said, furrowing her eyebrows in thoughtful expression.

"We are not from homicide, Penny, we deal with irregular technology, not bodies," Walter sighed, already feeling his head beginning to ache.

"But this is a case of irregular technology! Look at Kurt! He is probably the most advanced android in existence! We have to discover how he was built, who gave Burt money and technology to make him possible!"

"But Penny…"

"Walter, they are going to destroy Kurt without even investigating his origins, you know that! He is the only connection to discovering where all this technology came from!"

"And what your plan, just hide him and began a secret investigation?" Walter sarcastically suggested, rolling his eyes.

"YES! That's exactly my plan!" Penny beamed at him.

"No! no, no, no," Walter spoke, shaking his head. Penny had lost her mind, they couldn't just hide Kurt!

"Walter!" Penny cried. "Think about it, that is the only way we can assure that whoever paid for all this doesn't open another facility like this and build other androids like Kurt!"

"We can't hide him and initiate a secret investigation! That would be not only insane, but illegal too!" Walter yelled, trying to bring his partner back to reality.

"Walter," Penny pleaded with her chocolate colored eyes wide and tearful.

"Penny, we arrest people every day for hiding illegal forms of artificial intelligence. We can't just began to break laws doing exactly what we are paid to combat!"

"Please, we aren't going to get ourselves in trouble! If we discover who is behind all this, they will give us promotions and maybe they'll even let Kurt live," Penny explained finally making it clear for Walter why she was so determined to investigate that case.

"Oh, now I get it! You want do all this, risking us going to jail because you want save that android!" Walter snapped.

"Kurt." The android interrupted their discussion. "My name is Kurt. You can kill me if you want to, but you cannot call me "thing" or "android" anymore. My name is Kurt Hummel, my dad gave me that name and no matter what I am made of, I want be called by my name." The blue eyed android shot another fearless glare in Walter's direction. No one messed with the Hummel's, and a bitter middle aged man wouldn't be an exception to that rule.

"Fine! You want to protect him, we'll do it, but if anything goes wrong, this is entirely your responsibility!" Walter grunted at Penny, not believing he was really surrendering to her pleas.

"Are you planning on hiding him in your house or what?" Walter asked rolling his eyes.

"What? _My house? I can't bring him home with me_!" Penny frowned.

"And where are you planning hide him, then? In the trunk of our vehicle?" Walter asked, already having the feeling that he was about to hear something that he wouldn't like.

"Maybe you can hide him in your house?" Penny tentatively asked, already knowing that Walter wouldn't be pleased by the idea.

"What? My house? Are you out of your mind? He can't stay in my house!" the curly haired man shouted. Penny had to be out of her mind, that was the only possible explanation for her behavior.

"I can't bring him to my house either! I live with my parents and it'll be weird if I suddenly show up with a teenage boy don't you think?"

"Sure, because a lonely old man bringing a teenager unrelated to him to his home is _so norma_ l!" Walter sarcastically spoke, already thinking of how Ms. Chang from 145 would love to gossip about him living with a teenager.

"Please Walter the backup is coming any minute and I really can't take him home with me! Pleeeaaseee?"

 

**

********

**

 

"I can't believe I am actually doing this," Walter grumbled, sitting on his old red couch, feeling exhausted. He had surrendered to Penny's pleas, and now he had an illegal humanoid android staring him in the middle of his living room.

"Can you take these things off?" Kurt asked, looking to the handcuffs on his pale wrists.

"I'm still thinking about if I am going to let you walk around without those things," Walter panted, covering his temples with hands.

"You can't leave me this way! How I will go to the bathroom? And these things are hurting me!" Kurt shouted. He wasn't an animal and he would not be treated like one.

"Oh, please, things like you really need to go to bathroom?" Walter inquired with a tired glare.

"Yes! I need to!" Kurt yelled, feeling extremely hurt by Walter's comments.

"Don't scream at me, okay? I am having one of the worst days of my life, I am infringing the law, risking going to jail for something that I am supposed to destroy, and now I have to deal with an artificial teen in my home!" the curly haired man spoke. He was too tired, too stressed to deal with Kurt right now.

"You think you are having a bad day?" Kurt inquired offended. "I LOST MY DAD TODAY!" the blue eyed android screamed. "The only person that ever loved me is gone! And now I am stuck with a guy that keeps calling me a "thing" and saying that he was supposed to destroy me! So, don't you dare say to me that your day was a bad day! I lost everything today! I'm grieving, being disrespected, and I can't even go to the fucking bathroom!" Kurt snapped as tears burned his eyes. He just wanted go back to the times where he felt safe, loved, human, where Burt was there with him, ruining his recipes and trying to convince him that sports could be as fun as any ballet performance.

Walter regretted his selfish words, seeing how shattered and lost the boy in front of him was. Yes, "boy." Walter couldn't see him as a thing anymore. Kurt was a boy, a lost and hurt boy that was being treated as garbage without having done anything wrong.

"S-sorry. I am being an asshole towards you," Walter murmured, rubbing the nape of his neck, feeling uncomfortable.

"Yes, you are," Kurt said quietly, wiping the tears of his eyes with his sleeves. "Now, can you please take these things off?"

"Yes, sorry, come here." the man said before being interrupted by the ringing of his door bell.

"Crap! Who would it be at his hour! Kurt go hide," Walter hissed.

"What?" The blue eyed android gasped, scared. What was happening?

"Please go! I will get the door," Walter said, worried about who could be at that hour.

Maybe it could be an agent of the FDTC, or even the police, coming to arrest him and destroy Kurt. And he didn't understand why, but he wouldn't let that happen, he couldn't let anyone hurt that blue eyed android.

When the hazel eyed man open his door, he was shocked. It wasn't the cops or any federal agents standing there, the person that greeted him was someone way more unexpected.

"Hi, Walter," a hazel eyed boy wearing a black leather jacket grinned sarcastically. "It's been a while…"


	3. The coldness of a broken heart

"W-what are you doing here?" Walter asked, shocked. He wasn't expecting Blaine. Actually, the middle aged man couldn't even remember the last time his son had been in his apartment. What Walter did remember was that his son didn't wear a leather jacket or have a cocky attitude implied in every move and every word in those times. And Blaine certainly hadn't had a series of cuff earrings in his left ear.

"I missed you too, Walter," Blaine said ironically, cracking a mocking smile before entering his dad's apartment. The place hadn't changed at all since the last time he had been there. The same old red couch was still there and the walls were the same, all that same horrible shade of green they had been two years ago. Blaine could almost swear that even the empty box of Chinese food above the coffee table was the same box that he had left there two years ago.

"Well, it certainly looks gross enough to be", the hazel eyed boy thought, looking at the disgusting box and considering swearing off Chinese food for a while.

"This place still has the same cozy atmosphere that it had two years ago," Blaine said sarcastically, before sitting on the red couch and placing his feet on the coffee table.

"S-sorry… you just caught me at a bad time and-" his flustered father tried to explain, feeling ashamed of his own mess before he was interrupted again.

"Walter," a feminine voice spoke. A woman with a slim figure stood at the door of the apartment.

"Barbara?" Walter gasped, turning around. He recognized the pair of blue eyes in front of him. They belonged to his ex-wife, those crystalline pools of icy blue. Walter still could see all the wounds, all the pain and suffering that his abandonment had caused.

"We need to talk," the brunette said dryly, entering Walter's apartment even before being formally invited.

Barbara had her dark hair cut short and was wearing a black dress with matching pair of high-heeled shoes and a pearl necklace. She was beautiful, no one could deny that, but if you asked Walter, he would guiltily say that her beauty wasn't the same. The brunette woman didn't glow anymore like she did before Cooper's death. In those times, her beauty could be compared to the splendor of a nymph or a fairy. She had this flame in her eyes that illuminated everything around her, but now that flame was gone. Anyone that looked close enough could see that her beauty wasn't that of a fairy anymore. Now she was a like marble angel, amazingly beautiful, but cold.

"Blaine! Feet!" the dark haired woman hissed at the sight of her son with his two feet on top of his father's coffee table.

"Hands! Fingers! Head!" the boy mocked before he received a repressive glare from his mother and flashed another playful grin. "Sorry. I thought we are playing a game of who could say the most body parts," he said, taking his feet off the messy coffee table.

"Blaine, will you excuse us? I need talk to your dad…in private," Barbara said, sighing heavily.

"Well, it's not like I have a choice or anything. I'll just explore this wonderful place, then," Blaine said, standing without noticing the panicked expression that crossed his dad's face.

"Wait!" Walter hissed, unable to think of a proper excuse to stop his son. Blaine couldn't explore, he would probably end up finding Kurt walking around the apartment.

"What?" Blaine asked raising an eyebrow, confused by his dad's behavior. Was Walter hiding something?

"We need talk, Walter. Alone." Barbara spoke, making it clear that the subject of their conversation would be serious.

"B-but," Walter tried to make an excuse, but was interrupted by Blaine.

"Calm down, Walter. It's not like I'll find anything worse than this gross box of Chinese food," his son said, leaving the living room.

"See? That's exactly the reason why I'm here," Barbara murmured, massaging her temples. Blaine's behavior was becoming unmanageable and she didn't know what to do anymore.

"Blaine needs you," she told Walter, sighing.

"What you m-mean?"

"His behavior is unmanageable, Walter. I can't control him anymore! He is getting piercings, skipping school, calling me Barbara! And that's not even the worst part," Barbara confessed, sitting in the red couch. She was exhausted, hurt and worried because of Blaine's behavior. She just didn't even recognize her little boy anymore. Blaine used to be so polite and kind, but somehow her dapper little boy had changed. He began to skip classes, act ruthless, and spend his nights out. Barbara was certain that he was smoking. The smell of his clothes made that pretty obvious.

The exhausted woman was desperate. The only thing that she wanted was her Blaine back, not that angry teenager that disappeared for days and came back with his ears and tongue pierced.

"What happened?" Walter asked.

"Everything, Walter! Everything! He doesn't respect me anymore, he's getting in trouble at school and he is hanging out with all these weird people. Our little boy who used to sing and smile all the time has changed into this angry, self-destructive teen, and I don't have control over him anymore!" Barbara snapped, not fighting against the tears that burned her eyes.

"W-what you expect me to do?" Walter asked. He didn't know what do in that situation. He could see that Blaine had changed, but he thought that the hair, all that leather and the piercings were just part of an act, a phase. The man didn't have any idea that things were that bad.

"I expect you be there, Walter. I expect you do exactly what you haven't done in the past ten years!" Barbara shouted, giving voice to all resentment in her heart. Walter left her in the most painful moment of her life. He just ran away, leaving all the responsibilities to her. She was the one who had to explain to Blaine why his big brother wasn't coming back. She was the one who held Blaine while he cried for Cooper.

Walter had forced her to be something that she couldn't be. He had forced Barbara to be strong when she didn't have any strength left.

In the most hurtful moment of her life, when she was in need of the most support and protection, she had been left alone. She had to raise her head and fight because she couldn't show weakness. Blaine needed her, and Barbara had decided to do her best and act strong, even if acting like that meant crying alone and hiding at night while Walter took the easy way out.

"I…What you want me to do, Barbara?" Walter asked, feeling his ex-wife's words ripping his heart in two. It hurt so much because it was the truth. Walter knew that he had not been there for Barbara or Blaine. Sure, he called Blaine once a while and sometimes he visited his son, but it wasn't enough, it had never been enough. He couldn't even remember the last time that his son had been in his apartment! How could he have let things reach that point?

"I want you to do the only thing you're good at, Walter. Teach our son discipline. That is something you are capable of doing, right? After all, you're such a good detective aren't you? The star of the department, always following the rules, the protocols…" Barbara trailed off bitterly, remembering how proud Walter used to be of his status in the Homicide department, sometimes too proud actually, forgetting his obligations to her and their sons.

"So teach our son that, teach Blaine discipline. I can't do it. I've tried, I really have, but I just can't anymore," she concluded, breaking the eye contact and resting her face in her palms. Barbara was tired, so, so very tired.

Pulling the strong woman act isn't working anymore, Barbara thought. She couldn't lose another son, and that was what was going to happen if Blaine didn't change his behavior. He would end messing up with the wrong people and getting into big trouble. She didn't want to have to bury another son, she would never survive that.

"Sure. I'll visit him more and talk to him-"

"I am not talking about visits, Walter. I am talking about Blaine moving in with you." Barbara raised her icy blue eyes again to meet Walter's hazel and shocked ones.

"He can't move with me!" The middle aged man cried, remembering the android hidden in his apartment. He didn't realize that he had just involuntary broken the hearts of two people already too wounded by his past mistakes. His wife's heart, that broke hearing her ex-husband words and the heart of their son, who had hidden behind a wall, listening in on his parents' conversation and once more feeling rejected by his father.

_"How surprising! He doesn't want me, either,"_ Blaine bitterly thought, fighting off the tears that burned his eyes. Hearing his parents talk, he had become certain that no one wanted him. That whole conversation had proved it.

There was no surprise in there, why would Walter want him anyway? Why would any of them want him? He wasn't Cooper.

Blaine just couldn't avoid the thought that his parents wouldn't be doing this if he was Cooper. _No_ , if the subject of that conversation was his big brother, they probably would be fighting for the right to be with him. Not to get rid of him. Because Coop wasn't like Blaine, the broken and useless son. Cooper was the perfect son, the loved one.

Ever since Blaine was little, he had always had the feeling that his big brother was the favorite son, but in those times he didn't mind. Because Coop had been there for him, making him feel special; making the dark feelings go away. But things weren't like that anymore. His brother wasn't there for him anymore, and there wasn't anyone to make him feel special. The only thing that was left for Blaine was the feeling of not being good enough, always still living in his older brother's shadow, being haunted by his perfection.

Cooper Anderson was perfect, and that was the reason why his memory was kept alive and worshiped, in every room, every wall and in every corner of his mother's house, hurting Blaine in so many different ways. The hazel eyed boy loved his brother and missed him, and that one of the reasons why it hurt so much. But mostly seeing Cooper's face in every frame and picture hung on the walls hurt Blaine because that reminded Blaine how his brother's death had ruined his life.

Blaine used to be happy. He had a perfect family and an amazing brother, but then everything changed without a warning or explanation. Suddenly, his brother was gone and his mother was losing her warmth and happiness, trying to act strong as his dad had left home. All that was because his brother didn't want give his precious gold watch to a robber.

Why didn't he just give the guy the fucking watch? That was the logical thing to do, not play the hero. But no, the strong and perfect Cooper had to fight, playing the hero. And what had that led to? Death. He had been stupid, leaving Blaine alone.

Because that was the truth. Most of the time, Blaine felt dreadfully alone. His dad wasn't there for him, and his mom, even though she lived under the same roof, also hadn't really been there for him either. His mother had been in too much pain and missed Cooper too much to be really there for her younger son. She just kept acting strong and assuring him that things were going to be alright when the truth was, things weren't getting better. They were just getting worse.

There was no way things could ever be alright for Blaine when he couldn't even make his mother smile anymore. And Blaine did miss Barbara's smile. Remembering how her red lips twisted happily, showing those white, polished teeth hurt Blaine. It awoke all the dark feelings in his chest that just grew bigger and bigger with time.

Hate, anger, guilt and envy. Those feelings had always been there, but most of time, it was envy that dominated Blaine's chest.

The curly haired boy envied his brother and he wasn't even sure why. He didn't know if he envied Cooper for who he used to be, the perfect and loved son, or if he envied the fact that Cooper was the one who died; the one who got away not having to deal with a broken family and painful memories.

The entire situation was too agonizing, too fucked up. And thinking about that began to upset Blaine already. He was beginning to feel sad and alone, and he didn't want feel that way or think about those feelings. Acting ruthless was his escape. _But everyone in this family has their own way of escape, don't they?_ He thought. Why was he the only one that couldn't? Why he was the only one being judged by it?

His parents were judging him without looking at their own mistakes, and that was making Blaine feel like shit. And when Blaine Anderson felt like that, he usually did something entertaining and fun, at least to his standards. For most people, what Blaine called "fun" was pure self-destructiveness.

He looked around and considered all he could do to have some fun in his dad's apartment, and ended up deciding that the fun/self-destructive action of the day would have to be something simple, such as smoking.

Blaine usually wouldn't do such a simple thing trying to feel better, but Walter's apartment didn't give him much choice. His dad didn't drink, so there wasn't any way Blaine could get some alcohol there, and Walter certainly wouldn't have some hot guy hiding somewhere there that he could use to get a good, meaningless fuck. Sure, the curly haired boy could run away; jump out a window or something like that and go find those things, but his mother had his keys and Blaine wasn't in the mood for walking.

So, at least for now, Blaine would have to content himself with smoking. His mother wouldn't approve, or be happy about that, but he wasn't the perfect child anyway, so why not? Besides, Walter smoked too, and she married him, so they couldn't lecture Blaine at all.

The boy didn't even care if his parents kept talking in the living room, he had already heard enough. Now he would try to find a place where he could get some alone time. He also was planning to do something that would piss off Walter and give him a something to remember his younger son by, since Blaine probably would be going back to that crappy apartment sometime soon.

But first, he needed some nicotine. He found this to be a surprisingly difficult quest.

"Shit! Where the hell does he keep the cigarettes?" the boy cursed, rummaging through his father's messy apartment. The place smelled like nicotine. Walter had to have some cigarettes somewhere. Blaine continued his search, opening all the drawers and cabinets that came into view, looking for cigarettes. He even looked behind the weird porcelain cat figurine over his dad's dinner table.

Why did Walter have those things? Blaine had no idea, but they were awful and didn't match the rest of the neglected decoration of Walter's apartment at all. And thinking about the crappy place, he realized something.

Walter's room! His father had to have some cigarettes there! Grinning at his own clever thinking, the hazel eyed boy began to picture all the cigs that would be on his dad's nightstand, all alone and waiting to be smoked. And the best part of it all was that Walter would be furious when he found out.

It would be perfect, just perfect.

Smirking mischievously, Blaine made his way to his father's room, confidently thinking that he would just walk in there and steal all of Walter's cigarettes, but when he grabbed the door handle and tried to open it, it wouldn't budge. The door was locked.

"What the hell?" he cursed, furrowing his eyebrows in a confused look. Why had Walter locked his room? That didn't make any sense at all, unless he…

_"Oh God! Walter is hiding something! Please be something really, really embarrassing. Please!"_ the boy mentally begged, already thinking about how he would be thrilled to destroy whatever Walter was working so hard to hide.

Taking his pocket knife out of his jacket, Blaine attempted to open the door, smiling at Walter's naivety. A weak lock like that wouldn't stop anyone from finding out whatever he was hiding inside of his room. It wasn't like Blaine hadn't already broken thousands of locks just like that one. That model was probably one of the most easily breakable ones.

"Really, Walter? And think that you used to be a cop," Blaine smirked as the lock broke with a loud cr-r-rack!

As he entered his dad's room, Blaine hoped to find something really embarrassing, like a collection of porn magazines or maybe some cheesy romantic books made to entertain teenage girls. He would even be content with more of those weird cat figures that decorated his dad's kitchen. Blaine just wanted find exactly what it was that was awkward enough to be worth being hidden in a locked room and do some damage on it.

What Blaine didn't ever think he'd find in his dad's locked room was a pale boy, who had his hands handcuffed and a scared expression on his face.

The boy was standing in front of Blaine with scared, red rimmed, blue eyes.

"What the fuck…" Blaine breathed, shocked.

_What the hell had Walter been doing there?_


	4. Single Bed

Blaine couldn't believe his eyes. He blinked several times, hoping that the pale boy in front of him would somehow disappear. He prayed that that obviously frightened boy was just some kind of hallucination or daydream, but no matter how many times Blaine would open and close his eyes, the blue eyed boy still would be there, handcuffed, right in front of him.

There was a reason behind Kurt's terrified expression. He was panicking. Walter had ordered him to go hide, but whoever Walter had been trying to protect him from had just found his hiding place. Who was that boy? Why was he here? Was he going to hurt him? And how had he managed to open that door? Kurt had locked it well enough, he was sure of that.

Kurt was about to say something but before he even had the chance, Blaine had run back to the living room.

Blaine's stomach was burning with confusion and disgust as his mind was filled with all the wrong assumptions and scenarios. He tried, he really did, but he couldn't think of any explanation for what he had found locked in his dad's room that wasn't terribly disturbing or bloodcurdling.

Walter had a lot of explaining to do.

"Walter!" Blaine screamed, interrupting his parents' discussion as he entered the living room hastily.

"Blaine, your dad and I are talking–" Barbara tried to say, before her son once again interjected.

"Oh, believe me, Barbara; you'll wanna hear this too," the boy hissed, glaring furiously at his dad.

All the stories that he had seen in the news of old and creepy men that kidnaped young boys and did horrible things to them were coming to mind. The statements of people, saying how the kidnappers seem like good people before it had been found out what they were really doing. How devastated and scared those kids had seemed after they had been released. Blaine knew that this was a very disturbing thought and that he probably should have given Walter the benefit of the doubt before having jumped to conclusions, but the boy handcuffed in Walter's room seemed so scared and his wide blue eyes had showed so much fragility that Blaine couldn't help but think the worst.

"What's wrong, Blaine?" Walter asked.

"What's wrong, Walter? How about this: There's a boy that I just found, locked in your room! _Oh, and did I mention he's handcuffed?_ " Blaine shouted.

Oh God, Blaine found Kurt, Walter thought, completely paralyzed. He didn't know what to say or do. And Kurt still was handcuffed…how was he supposed to explain that?

_"WHAT?"_ Barbara yelled, hearing her son's words. That had to be some kind of sick joke. Just another one of Blaine's horrible jokes.

"Blaine, if this is some kind of joke…" Barbara warned.

"It's not a joke! Go see for yourself!" Blaine exclaimed, crossing his arms, looking fixedly at Walter, who had been taken by despair as his ex-wife flew through the hallway, towards his room.

"OH MY GOD!" Barbara screamed, covering her mouth with her hands as she caught Kurt trying to leave her ex-husband's bedroom.

Barbara was shocked. That boy was a teenager! He seemed about the same age as Blaine. And he looked so scared. What was going on there? Why he was handcuffed?

"Give me one good reason not to call the cops on you right this second, Walter!" Barbara hissed, turning around to meet Walter with a fuming expression.

Walter tried to say something or make some excuse, but Barbara's eyes met his and the words stuck in his throat. Her icy, blue eyes were flamed with rage and he almost could hear her mind turning, filled with all kinds of wrong assumptions.

"I-It's not what looks like…" he tried to explain, not being able to find the right words, amazed by how much Barbara and Blaine looked alike when they were glaring at him with pure rage.

"Walter is letting me stay here! He's a friend of my dad!" Kurt yelled, bringing the attention of the Anderson's to him. He had become very self-conscious, but he needed to keep explaining things. It was pretty obvious that Walter was a terrible liar, and he couldn't risk having the police come there.

"And how the hell did you end up locked in his room, handcuffed?" Blaine inquired, crossing his arms above his chest and raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

" _I-I handcuffed myself!_ " Kurt gasped "I locked myself in the bedroom to play with Walter's detective things and ended up handcuffing myself!" he concluded, cursing himself for not thinking up a better excuse. That sounded just really lame. They would have to be really naive to believe in something like that.

"You handcuffed yourself? What, are you stupid or something?" Blaine inquired, puzzled.

"Says the boy who actually paid someone to pierce his body in order to hang metallic rings in the holes," Kurt answered in a bitchy tone, referring to the series of cuff earrings in the other boy's ear.

Somehow, Kurt already didn't like Blaine. And it wasn't because the other boy was the one that had found him and had put in him in this embarrassing situation. What annoyed Kurt was the cockiness that was implied in every single one of Blaine's gestures and his attitude.

And the leather jacket, let's not even talk about all that leather, Kurt thought. That was just one of the many reasons why Kurt already didn't like the boy at all.

"He has a point, Blaine," Barbara murmured to her son, making him roll his eyes. Who the hell did that kid think he was? No one talked to Blaine Anderson like that, especially someone who was stupid enough to handcuff himself. Kurt just turned himself out of someone that Blaine was trying to defend to someone that he already didn't like even a bit.

Seeing his son clench his fists in irritation, Walter decided to step between them and avoid what probably would have ended, if he was lucky, in a session of heavy insults.

"Well, now everyone knows Kurt! Kurt, this is Barbara, my ex-wife, and this is my son, Blaine," Walter said as he took the metal chain off of Kurt's pale wrists, leaving some red marks that made Walter's chest tighten with regret. He was ashamed of the way he had treated the android earlier that day, handcuffing him like the boy was some sort of criminal.

"Thank you," Walter almost inaudibly whispered to Kurt, receiving a small smile in return.

"Well, this is an odd way to be introduced to someone, but it is nice to meet you, Kurt," Barbara said, offering the boy a handshake.

"It's nice to meet you too, Barbara," Kurt murmured, squeezing her hand. She shivered a little at the touch of Kurt's hand. It was really soft but surprisingly cold.

"S-sorry," Kurt said, putting his hand in his pocket. He shouldn't have shaken her hand. His dad had always warned him about that. How sometimes, his body temperature would get really low and touching people could bring them great discomfort.

"So, when I can bring Blaine's stuff?" Barbara suddenly inquired, catching her husband and her son off guard.

_"What?"_ they both gasped.

"If you have enough room for a friend's son, then I am sure you can make room for your own son as well," Barbara declared, crossing her arms in an imposing way.

"B-but Barbara!" Walter tried to argue. He couldn't have Blaine there. He was hiding an illegal android and he didn't want to make Blaine part of that.

"Blaine needs you in his life and I'm sure you will find a way to make room in your life for him. You found a way for a complete stranger, didn't you?" Barbara said, making Blaine look at his father with hurt eyes.

Barbara was right; Walter had found room for that strange boy, hadn't he? How he could be reluctant about living with his own son? It wasn't like Blaine wanted to live with Walter, and he wasn't pleased with the thought of living with that boy with the high pitched voice either. But if his dad ended up rejecting him and saying no to him when he had said yes to that irritating elf, Blaine would feel even more hurt.

Feeling his son glare at him, Walter was at a loss for words. He knew what he was supposed to say. He had to reject Barbara's proposition, but he couldn't.

Barbara was staring at him, waiting for an answer, and Walter knew that every second of his own hesitation just hurt his son even more.

In the end, it wasn't like Walter really had a choice; he couldn't hurt Blaine more than he already had.

"You can bring his things tonight. I will have a really busy day tomorrow," Walter sighed, not believing the mess that he was putting himself in. There was no way his day could get worse. He was breaking the law by hiding an illegal form of artificial intelligence under his roof, and now he was bringing his problematic son to live with him.

"So I'll have to live here now? With the handcuffed genius?" Blaine inquired of his mom. Part of him was kind of happy that Walter hadn't rejected him again, but the thought of living under the same roof with that bitchy pale boy wasn't something that he was looking forward to at all.

"My name is Kurt," the blue eyed boy hissed, clearly annoyed. As if it wasn't enough, with all the bad things that had happened to him today, now he would be forced to live with that jerk. God, he just wanted his old life back.

"Sorry, my bad. With KURT, the handcuffed genius," Blaine shouted back, correcting himself and glaring at Kurt mischievously.

"Yes, Blaine. From now on, you will be living here, with Kurt. I will bring your PJs and everything else later," Barbara said before she wrapped her arms awkwardly around her son's waist.

It had been a long time since she had hugged him. All their fights and discussions had kept them apart for long enough and to make even that small gesture of affection seemed strangely unfamiliar for them.

Barbara murmured some loving words as she buried her face in her son's shoulder as they exchanged goodbyes. "I love you" and "I will visit you" Barbara had said. Those words were really familiar to Blaine. Walter had already said them to him the day he had left his son behind.

But unlike that day, Blaine wouldn't cry this time. He wouldn't beg to not be left behind. He would just hug his mother back and pretend that he believed her promises.

"Well, boys. It seems like we'll be living together now," Walter said tentatively, making the two boys in front of him roll their eyes almost simultaneously.

"So let's establish some rules here: no fighting, no yelling, no drinking, no smoking, no breaking things, no skipping school and no bringing girls to spend the night," Walter began to list, not noticing the way his son had choked back a laugh when he had heard the "no bringing girls to spend the night" part.

Blaine was amazed by the fact that his father knew so little about him. Sure, he had kissed some girls in the past but the thing was…Blaine Anderson liked boys. He certainly didn't date them nor do anything romantic for or with them, but he was addicted to the feeling of power and control that he felt over them while they hopelessly shivered and moaned his name. There was something about how he knew nothing unexpected would happen, and that everything was under his control. That made the whole experience so good.

Every time Blaine had sex with someone, he overpowered the person, dominated the whole situation, because in this way he could control what was going to happen next. In this way, he would never be left behind; he was always the one that would leave in the morning, not the other way around.

"So no sex, no drugs, no anything that is slightly fun allowed, right?" Blaine mocked, seeing his father blush a little before the man recomposed his authoritarian attitude again.

"Yes Blaine. Pretty much that," Walter sarcastically assured his son, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Alright, so where am I going to sleep?" Blaine asked, slightly afraid of where he would be forced to sleep. Walter's place was a mess.

"Good question. Where am I supposed to sleep?" Kurt asked.

"Well I am thinking I'll be putting the two of you in the guest room," Walter considered out loud, making the two boys in front of him gasp.

"The two of us? You are seriously saying that I'll be forced to sleep with the genius here?" Blaine shouted, receiving a bitchy glare from Kurt that made it pretty clear that the thought of sharing a room wasn't pleasing for him either.

"I prefer sleeping with the gross box of Chinese food in the living room," Kurt assured them, crossing his arms in a superior pose. He knew that he wasn't in a position to demand anything, but he wouldn't let Blaine humiliate him without doing anything about it.

"Oh, really? Because I'd rather marry that gross box of old food and have babies with it than sleep with the brainless ice queen here," Blaine growled.

"Alright, alright, you two, calm down. No one here is sleeping with that box of Chinese food. I will get rid of that thing…soon. You two are going to share a room and try not to kill each other, okay?" Walter said, feeling a heavy atmosphere forming between the boys.

Both of the boys rolled their eyes and sighed before Walter decided to show the boys the house. The place wasn't as small as it seemed, it just needed a good cleaning and it would look at least ten times bigger. There was only one bathroom in whole place, which could cause some problems if Kurt maintained his morning routine with skin care rituals and long showers. But besides that, the place wasn't that bad. There was a living room, a small laundry, a wide kitchen and a reasonable sized living room.

Soon they had familiarized themselves with the apartment and made Walter promise to clean the place. The boys went to the guest room that was near Walter's room.

After opening the room's door with difficulty, (apparently it stuck sometimes if you didn't apply the right amount of strength to push it), Walter showed the boys a room illuminated by one large window. The room wasn't so messy like the rest of the apartment, but the thing was, there was only a single bed. And Kurt and Blaine were two people.

"You did notice that there's only one bed and that there are two of us, right?" Blaine inquired, making his dad twist his face into a thoughtful expression.

"Yes, that could be a problem…" Walter muttered to himself as he tried to think of a solution for that particular problem.

"That definitely is a problem," Kurt agreed. He didn't want to share a bed with that leather jacket wearing freak. He had never slept next to a boy before, and he didn't want to wake up for the first time next to another man to see Blaine's smug face and hear some kind of morning insult. Walter might not have believed him, but Kurt really meant what he said about the Chinese food box.

"Well I have an old futon, that would solve the problem!" Walter exclaimed before receiving a horrified look from Kurt.

"Only provisionally, of course. I will put the other bed in here, don't worry," the federal agent assured them. Kurt sighed heavily.

This has to be a nightmare. The blue eyed android thought, closing his eyes and massaging his temples.

"Well, I will get the futon and some clothes for you, Kurt. I'll be right back!" Walter said, before leaving the room. It was his attempt at trying to give the boys some space to work out their issues.

"So, ice queen, how about we establish some rules?" Blaine said smugly as his dad left the room.

"That's a great idea. I was thinking in—" Kurt tried saying, before Blaine interrupted him again.

"I mean my rules," the older boy said, stepping close to Kurt in an almost improper way that made himself clear.

"Firstly: I don't give a shit about you or about what you think of me, so you're not allowed to form any opinion about my life, my hair and especially not about my piercings," Blaine said, beginning to annoy Kurt in an almost unbearable way.

"Second rule: When I go out, you can't make a fuss about it or tell Walter," Blaine continued, cracking a pretentious half-smile.

"Oh yeah, and what are you going to do if I break your precious rules?" Kurt asked in a bitchy tone, almost regretting his words when he saw the way Blaine's eyes began to sparkle with an evil flame as he heard the question.

"You want know what I'm going to do?" Blaine murmured, stepping even closer to the young android, this time in a certainly improper way, standing just a few inches apart from Kurt.

"You'll be punished," Blaine finally whispered as his warm breath ghosted the other boy's unbelievable pink lips.

Kurt jerked with the suddenly close proximity that Blaine had imposed between them, stepping away from the other boy and blushing a deep shade of crimson red.

"I'm glad you understood what I meant," Blaine whispered, cracking a small, but unbelievably cocky smile.

"And by the way, the bed is mine," Blaine said, walking away from Kurt and sitting on the edge of the single bed.

"I don't care about your rules! I won't tell your dad if you go out, and you want know why? Because I don't give a damn about you or what you do with your stupid life!" Kurt shouted, seconds after recovering himself. He wouldn't let Blaine know how he had affected him with his words. "And you can have the bed. Judging by the crappy neighborhood that your dad lives in, that thing was probably part of a crime scene anyway!" he hissed, turning his back on Blaine and leaving the room.

"What happened?" Walter asked. He was back with the futon.  
"Just the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Walter," Blaine mocked, grabbing the futon out of his dad's hands and placing it on the floor. _"A beautiful friendship…"_


	5. Damaged

Grabbing the unfashionable clothes that Walter had given him, Kurt went to take a shower. He felt like a huge mess. He felt confused, hurt and extremely annoyed. He just wanted take a shower and wash all of those feelings away.

As he felt the warm water falling over his head, Kurt began to mentally put everything that had happened to him that day in order. He needed to plan what he was going to do now. Even if every muscle in his body was telling him to just break down and surrender to desperation, Kurt wouldn't give up. He needed to be strong. He would have to find out who took his dad away from him and then figure out how to deal with Walter's smartass son.

Kurt couldn't cry. He couldn't show weakness in a time like this, even with all the pain that was burning in his chest. He felt completely alone, and he had never felt that way before. But he couldn't afford to break down now.

He stepped out of the shower and put Walter's clothes on as he kept promising himself that he wouldn't break down. He still remembered his dad's motto.

"No one messes with the Hummels," Burt Hummel would say to Kurt, and the boy knew that he would remain faithful to that philosophy, for his dad and his memory of him. After all, the memory of Burt was all that Kurt had left; the only thing that still kept him standing.

"I won't break down, I won't cry, I won't cry," he said to himself, remembering his dad.

All these little details about Burt were coming back to Kurt. His smile, his strength, the way he'd always laugh when he'd see Kurt wearing his mother's apron, and Burt's unbelievable affection for his ugly and completely obsolete collection of baseball caps. All these little things had made his dad so unique, so special. But as he remembered all of that, something clicked inside of the boy's head.

The realization hit him devastatingly fast.

Burt had lied to him.

"I won't cry, I won't cry…" the words kept echoing out of the android's mouth as he clenched the edge of the bathroom sink, his thumbs turning white. He didn't even know how he still was managing to say those words; the only thing filling his mind was that painful realization.

His dad had lied to him.

Looking into his own blue eyes in the tarnished mirror, Kurt tried to keep himself together, but that was becoming painfully difficult. He couldn't stop thinking about how his dad had lied to him for all those years.

"I won't cry, I won't cry, I won't cry," he kept whispering.

All that time, his life had been a lie; all the love that Burt had given him and the way his dad had always cherished him, protecting Kurt and making him believe that he was human, all of that was part of a huge lie.

Every time Burt had said "You have your mother eyes," or "You have your grandfather's smile," he had been lying.

Kurt didn't have his mother's eyes. Those two pools of crystalline blue weren't even human. They were artificial! Walter's stupid words had shown that!

"I won't cry, I won't cry," he kept telling himself.

He was feeling so lost. Everything was so wrong; it all felt so wrong. He didn't even know what he was anymore. Was he human? Or he was just a soulless machine, just an artificial imitation of a dead boy? How could he feel all those feelings if he was just a machine?

"I-I won't cry, I won't cry, I won't cry-y…"

The sobs felt suffocating in his throat and he fought against tears that just couldn't be part of a programmed reaction.

"I won't cry…I can't cry….I c-can't…" were Kurt's last words before the blue eyed android surrendered to the pain consuming him and fell to his knees.

Loud sobs erupted from his throat and tears ran down his face as Kurt wrapped his arms around himself, assuming an almost fetal position on the white floor of the bathroom. He was trying to keep himself together, trying not to break entirely. It was an almost rather naïve attempt; the truth was, Kurt was already too damaged to keep himself together alone.

*************

****  
_So are you coming or not? -Q._  


Blaine was reading and re-reading the text that had been sent to him. He considered the proposition implied in the text. Did he want to go out?

His mother had already brought him his clothes, his dad was asleep, and the annoying elf was in the shower. So why not? That would be a way to prove that he would not change himself just because he was living with his dad. If his mother thought that Walter could fix their lost cause, the problematic son, she was wrong.

Cracking a small smile, Blaine got up out of his bed, feeling good. It was only his first night in his dad's house and he was already going out without permission. Somehow, he even felt a little proud of himself.

The greatest detective of District 198 wouldn't suspect a thing.

*************

"Hey, man," a tall boy with his hair styled in a spiked Mohawk greeted Blaine as he made his way towards a small group of teens who all seemed to be wearing leather jackets.

The boy with the Mohawk was Noah Puckerman, but everyone called him Puck. Then there was Quinn Fabray, with her blond hair dyed in a new shade of vivid pink. There was also Mike Chang, who was quiet as usual, and Santana Lopez, who was standing against the wall, holding an unfamiliar blond girl in an almost possessive way. And then there was Sam Evans, who was looking at his cell phone screen every five seconds, most likely exchanging messages with his ex.

"Hey," Blaine greeted them as Quinn handed him a bottle with mysterious, but most certainly alcoholic, content.

"How was the family reunion?" she asked, cracking a mocking smile. Blaine almost rolled his eyes at her comment, but noticing how messed up she looked he contained his sarcasm.

Quinn was trying to look fine, she really was, making jokes about Blaine's family and teasing him. But her attempt to be playful wasn't good enough to hide her red rimmed eyes or how her voice was cracking a little, making it pretty obvious to Blaine that she had been crying earlier that day.

Taking the bottle out of Quinn's hands, Blaine tried to ignore the pain in his chest, seeing his best friend like that. He loved her. She was the only one who remained at his side, even when he acted like a total jerk or was being a self-destructive asshole.

Quinn never judged him or tried to change him, and that was the reason why she was one of the few good things in his life. But unfortunately, like all the other things in Blaine's life, good or bad, the pink haired girl also was messed up, too trapped in a past filled with mistakes and regrets.

"My family reunion? Great! No one wants me around anymore so they kept fighting over who got to get rid of me. And then, I find a handcuffed boy locked in my dad's room…" Blaine answered, placing the bottle on his lips and letting the liquid go down his throat. He flinched as he swallowed the liquid. It burnt his throat all the way down.

Yep, it's definitely alcohol, he thought, trying to figure out what they had put in it that could have made it taste so gross. It was alcohol and mint flavored at same time.

"You found WHAT?" Quinn gasped, shocked. A handcuffed boy? That didn't seem like Blaine's dad at all. She knew Walter. She had been Blaine's best friend since they were kids, way before Cooper's death.

"So your dad's a faggot like you, Anderson?" Puck asked, looking over at the hazel eyed boy with a mocking smile.

Blaine shook his head as he took sip of alcohol, forcing himself to stay calm and not start another fight with Puck. He wouldn't surrender to Puck's comments, even if they made the tension between them bigger and heavier.

For years they had kept up this fragile façade, pretending to endure each other's presence, when the truth was they profoundly hated each other.

Ever since Puck had gotten Quinn pregnant and had messed with her head in such a twisted way, she still kept begging for Blaine to not abandon the gang and stick around, even after all that Puck had done to her. That was when Blaine began to hate Noah Puckerman with everything he had.

On the other hand, Puck had never liked Blaine, either. To him, Blaine seemed too arrogant, a spoiled smartass. He wasn't damaged enough to hang out with their crowd. And after the whole pregnancy episode when Blaine had punched him and then demanded for him to do something, that feeling only grew. Who was Blaine to tell him what he could or couldn't do?

"The boy is just this asshole who Walter is helping. He's staying at Walter's place and was stupid enough to handcuff himself," Blaine mocked, trying to lighten the mood and contain his desire to punch Puck right in the face.

And just as Blaine intended, bursts of laughter filled the dark alley, breaking up the heavy atmosphere.

"You're making this up right?" Santana said, laughing and showing her white polished teeth as the blond girl in her arms frowned, not seeming to understand what was going on. Blaine didn't know her, but seeing how overly protective Santana seemed about her, holding her tightly against her chest like she couldn't bear to lose her, Blaine concluded that this girl was probably the reason why the Santana had come out months ago as a lesbian, being disowned by her family as a result.

"Is he retarded or something?" Puck inquired suspiciously, bringing Blaine back to reality, obviously not believing Blaine's story.

"Probably," Blaine nodded, supporting his weight against the dirty wall before concluding, "and now I'm being forced to share a room with him." He received a sympathetic look from Mike, who cracked a small smile at him. The quiet Asian boy had joined their crew after being disowned by his father, and he almost never spoke. He just hung around with them to avoid being at home at same time as his old man. At home, Mike would be forced to hear over and over about how he was a failure and how he was throwing his future away by investing his time in dancing.

"You're living with Walter now? B, that can totally cause you problems," Quinn said, sounding worried.

"Yeah, man, Quinn is right. Your dad's a cop, isn't he?" Sam inquired, finally looking up from his phone.

Sam's family was suffering from serious financial issues and the blond boy was working as a stripper in a dirty club not too far from the dark alley where they were standing. But even having to deal with the ugliest part of Lima's night life on a daily basis, Sam still hadn't given up on love. He was persistently trying get his ex-girlfriend back. It was kind of cute actually, naïve, but cute.

"Walter's not a cop. He just deals with illegal technology," Blaine assured them, lighting up a cigarette. It wasn't like Walter would care with what he did. He hadn't cared in the last ten years, so why would he begin caring now?

"So he won't bring us problems right? I don't want anyone's "daddy" ruining our parties and messing with our stuff, especially not a cop. Do you understand me, Anderson?" Puck grunted, pushing Blaine. Blaine's resolution of not fighting with Puck was no longer standing. Noah had crossed the line of how much shit Blaine could handle in one day. Who did he think he was? Some kind of alpha leader? No, Blaine wasn't anyone's bitch and he wasn't about to take this anymore from anyone.

"You really think you run this shit, don't you, Noah?" Blaine said in a daring tone, tossing his cigarette aside and clenching his fists tightly. He wasn't scared. Puck was taller than him, but Blaine had been wanting punch that arrogant face for a long time.

"Look, Anderson, I don't know who you-" Puck began to shout angrily. He dangerously approached the hazel eyed boy, but before they could do anything, Santana interrupted them, stopping what would probably turn out to be a really ugly fight. She still remembered the last time that those two had fought. It had been a bloody mess.

"Can you two ladies calm down, please? My girl Brittany doesn't like fights. She gets scared, and when someone scares my girl, I GET SCARY. And you don't want to see me getting scary," Santana hissed, glaring sharply at the two boys before she shoved them both apart.

"Is your dad gonna cause us problems, Blainey boy?" she asked, still clenching Blaine's jacket.

"No, Satan, he won't. He doesn't give a shit about what I do," Blaine assured her, disengaging from her but still glaring fixedly at Puck.

"Great." Santana said before she turned her attention to Puckerman.

"See? His dad won't cause us any problems. So stop acting like you're some kind of macho alpha here, because let's face the facts, there aren't any such things up in here. We're all just a bunch of fucked up, self-destructive idiots coming from homes that don't give a shit about us. No one here is better than anyone, and if someone was better, it wouldn't be a piece of shit like you," she said, putting a daring emphasis on piece of shit.

"You are lucky that you're a hot chick, San, or else you would've met my fists already," Puck hissed, clenching his jaw as Santana cracked another playful smile.

"Yeah, right," she said, rolling her eyes and walking away from him with a cocky smile. Puck was just like an old dog. He would bark, but he could never bite her. He just messed with Blaine because he believed that Blaine had no place there, that he was just a spoiled brat. Puck obviously couldn't see all pain and loneliness behind the boy's hazel eyes.

It took a few minutes and more than a few shots of alcohol for the boys to calm themselves down. Finally, they returned to the habitual fragile truce established between them. And soon, the group did relax, once more talking about stupid topics like talking smack about school and debating about where Sam should put a piercing.

Santana was really insistent about how the blond boy shouldn't put one on his mouth, saying that his lips were already too flamboyant, making everyone laugh and Sam blush a little. They all stood there for a little while, just until they ran out of alcohol. Quinn wanted to go somewhere to buy more cigarettes because she refused to smoke Blaine's "crappy cigs." After all, Quinn had her standards. She only smoked mint flavored ones.

But just as their quest for an open convenience store began, Mike murmured something about the time and went home. Then Sam received a call from the club where he worked, and he ended up having to leave early, too. This left only Blaine, Quinn, Puck, Santana and her girlfriend, Brittany. The five of them kept walking adrift in the cold night, looking for a place where Quinn could buy her cigarettes and Puck could buy some liquor, using his fake I.D, of course.

Blaine wasn't really into the girls' conversations and for obvious reasons was avoiding interacting with Puckerman, so he ended up giving in to his old habits. He looked up at the sky, staring at the stars. But as soon as he realized what he was doing, his chest tightened painfully.

That used to be his and Cooper's thing, looking at the sky late at night and searching for constellations and comets. Sometimes, they had even spent the whole night awake doing just that. It had been more than ten years since the last time he had looked at the sky like this, but Blaine could still remember those times like it was yesterday. The time when he didn't feel alone like he was feeling now. Nowadays, he was tormented by the worst kind of loneliness, the one that you feel even when you're surrounded by other people.

"Hey, look at that!" Puck exclaimed, catching the crowd's attention and pointing to a solitary domestic robot walking in the streets, carrying what appeared to be some sort of a heavy bag. The gray machine seemed to be old and the metal that covered its exterior didn't shine anymore. The robot was at least forty years old, clearly a legal one, belonging to the line of first models made after the institutionalization of the Anti-humanization laws.

"Check it out," Puck snickered before he threw the empty bottle of alcohol at the robot's head.

A piercingly metallic cry echoed in the air as the robot fell to its knees almost instantly at the violent impact of the empty bottle at its head. Blaine and the girls flinched hearing the noise, but Puck just burst out laughing when he saw the way the robot fell to the ground. The form of artificial intelligence tried to get up seconds later but didn't succeed. It continuously tried to stand up, being unsuccessful in each of its attempts.

Puck had probably damaged some important part of the robot's central unit of processing, because the gray machine wasn't able to stand on its two feet anymore.

Blaine felt pity seeing the way the robot tried and tried without succeeding. It was a really painful scene.

"Why did you do that!" Brittany cried, horrified, giving voice to Blaine's thoughts.

Brittany didn't like the way people like Puck treated robots, like they were stupid vermin, using them and treating them like garbage. It always reminded her of the way people used to treat her before she met Santana, always using her for her body and then calling her stupid behind her back.

"What? it's only just a thing!" Puck argued, rolling his eyes and obviously annoyed by his friends.

"Y-Yeah, it's only a thing," Quinn agreed in an obvious and pathetic attempt to please Puck by taking his side.

Hearing Quinn's words made Blaine roll his eyes. He couldn't understand how someone as smart and amazing as Quinn could go so low just to please a guy who had already hurt her so much.

After the pregnancy, Quinn had lost herself in such a twisted and screwed up way that she kept following Puck as faithfully as a puppy. Quinn needed to be loved so badly and wanted to feel protected. She would always wait for the few little crumbs of affection that Puck sometimes gave her. She was addicted to those brief moments, willing to do anything for just a few more seconds of warmth. At those times, she didn't feel like useless garbage.

"Leave it, baby," Santana whispered, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend, who still seemed upset.

"But t-they hurt him!" Brittany complained, seeing the agony of the old robot as it still tried to stand.

"It's okay." Blaine assured them, cracking a small comforting smile before going in the robot's direction. He held the heavy machine in his arms and embracing the thing's center, he tried to help the robot to stand on its two feet again.

"See? It's okay now," Blaine said, trying to comfort Brittany as he still held onto the robot's center. He knew that if he let go, the robot would fall again. The machine was shuddering and it was too damaged to stand on two feet without help.

"If you say so," Brittany frowned as Santana walked her away from the robot, noticing Blaine's efforts to keep the thing standing.

Santana mouthed a silent thank you before turning her back to Blaine. She was followed by Quinn, who gave an apologetic look to her best friend before walking away from him.

"Always playing the good guy, aren't you, Anderson?" Puck grunted, seeing Blaine trying to help the gray robot.

"Fuck you, Puckerman! What you did was completely unnecessary!" Blaine shouted, leaning the robot against a wall before he took his arms from around the thing's waist.

"Don't be a fucking hypocrite, Anderson. I've already seen you break things before."

"But I never broke a…a-" Blaine tried to argue before Puck interrupted him.

"A what? This is a thing! Just like principal Figgins' car or the school lockers!" Puck shouted back.

And Blaine didn't want to admit it, but Puck was right. He had broken thousands of things, and he really wasn't in any position to judge Puck for doing damage to a thing.

Because that was what the damaged robot, trembling in front of him was. A thing. A machine.

No matter how human it seemed, no matter how much it seemed to be in agonizing pain on the cold pavement, or how the robot's fingers were clutching Blaine's pants, pleading for help, that robot was still a thing.

Robots are just things, Blaine, things! he thought to himself, leaving the robot behind and trying to ignore the lump forming in his throat as he tried and failed to convince himself that he was doing the right thing.

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Photoset- http://loli94.tumblr.com/post/44504336539/human-by-loli-the-dreamer-what-makes-someone 
> 
> u-u Don't jugde me I have a lot of free time and I can make "fanart" for my own work ;P


	6. Warm Feelings

Blaine arrived back home a while after the sunlight began to invade the sky, announcing the start of a new day. Trying to be as silent he could, he climbed the fire staircase exit and entered his room through the large window.

The room was still dark, but a small light was coming from outside, making it possible for Blaine to take a good look around. He searched for the pale figure of his new roommate, and a cocky smile formed on the boy's lips when he finally found him. Kurt was curled up on the old futon as the bed remained free, waiting for Blaine just like he had demanded the previous night.

"Such an obedient little boy," Blaine murmured to himself, ignoring the fact that Kurt was noticeably taller than him.

Crossing the room towards his bed, Blaine couldn't resist and quietly approached the pale boy lying on the futon. As soon as he got closer to the other boy, Blaine's cocky smile faded away. Even with his eyes closed, Kurt looked even more fragile than he had looked yesterday. He obviously had been crying; the dark circles around his eyes made that pretty clear. He also looked paler.

Somehow, Blaine could see that Kurt was broken. Not only did the physical evidence show that he was hurt, but there was something beyond that; something that Blaine couldn't really put a finger on, but it seemed surprisingly familiar to him.

Blaine didn't understand why his heart tightened a bit as he kneeled beside Kurt and brushed his chestnut hair off of his face. He wanted see the boy's features and decipher his pain, as if seeing Kurt's amazingly long eyelashes still wet with tears or his soft pink lips parted slightly could somehow help Blaine discover the reason why the blue eyed boy was suffering.

Impulsively Blaine traced Kurt's cheek lightly with a trembling touch of his hands. He didn't know why he was doing that, but as soon as his calloused fingers made contact with the other boy's slightly cold but unbelievably soft skin, a warm and unfamiliar feeling overtook Blaine's body.

Feeling warmth spread through him made Blaine realize what he had been doing. He jerked away from the touch and fell to the ground, panting and confused by his own actions. What was wrong with him? What was he was doing? He had been touching some other person while they had been sleeping like some sort of freak.

Shaking his head and blaming the alcohol that he had ingested earlier for his odd behavior, Blaine striped off his jacket and his black V-neck T-Shirt and threw on a pair of worn plaid pajama bottoms and a shirt he'd had since he was fifteen. He didn't bother to brush his teeth and instead buried himself in the covers of the single bed. The sheets felt cold in contact with his olive skin but the unwanted warm feeling that was spreading through Blaine's chest prevented him from shivering.

"It's just the alcohol…" The boy murmured to himself, trying to make the feeling go away. "Just the alcohol…"

*************

"Boys! Boys! It's time to wake up!" Walter yelled, knocking on the door of the boys' room. It had only been a few hours since Blaine had returned that night and the boy was exhausted.

"Humf…" Blaine muttered, covering his head with his pillow.

"Boys! It's time for breakfast!" Walter announced, opening the door. He was holding a spoon and wearing a baby-blue apron.

"What's with the apron?" Kurt asked, his voice still a little rough from sleep. His vision was still adjusting yet he could already see Walter, looking unexpectedly like a housewife.

"I'm making pancakes!" Walter said excitedly as Blaine grunted, "hummletfsleep", which probably meant, "Let me sleep."

"C'mon sleepy head." Walter said, trying to take the pillow off of Blaine's head. "I made pancakes! Chocolate pancakes!" he offered.

Walter's chocolate pancakes used to be Blaine's favorite. The boy used to always wake up early just to see his dad making them. His favorite had been the star shaped ones. Blaine really loved those.

"C'mon Blaine…" Walter pleaded before giving up. His son had put another pillow over his head and murmured something that sounded like "levmalone" but most likely meant "leave me alone."

"Let him sleep. I'll eat his share." Kurt said, standing up and stretching out a bit. He wasn't really hungry, but Walter really seemed excited about the pancakes and unlike Blaine, Kurt didn't want to break the older man's heart.

"You can eat?" Walter inquired, looking surprised.

"Yes, Walter I can eat." Kurt answered, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. He couldn't really blame Walter for the comment. The man was just assuming what anyone else would have in the same situation.

"Alright then." Walter nodded, still a little disappointed with his son's lack of interest in his pancakes. He had worked so hard making those pancakes just to please Blaine. It had been his attempt at trying to make his son smile in any other way besides that cocky and arrogant one that lately seemed to be glued to the boy's lips.  
"Wait!" Blaine shouted, jumping off of the mattress. His curls had fallen above his forehead and his face was a little flustered. He looks kinda cute, Kurt thought.

"No one eats my chocolate pancakes, especially not you, ice queen." He said before closing his eyes and massaging his temples with his hands. The hangover was beginning to kick in.

And the cuteness is gone, Kurt thought before throwing a bitchy glare in Blaine's direction.

"So you couldn't even speak seconds ago, but you have the energy to insult me?" Kurt snorted, before Blaine flashed him a mocking smile.

"What I can say? You bring out the best of me." Blaine said, teasingly.

"Boys!" Walter hissed. "There are enough pancakes for everyone! There is no need to argue…" He assured the boys before turning his back on them, trying to hide the goofy smile on his face. He was happy, even with all the confusion in his life. For the first time in years, Walter had gotten the opportunity to have a family breakfast.

And he missed having someone to talk in the morning besides that figure of the cat sitting in the middle of the dining table.

"You made little faces on them? Really Walter? We're not five anymore." Blaine pointed out as he sat on the table and looked at the pancakes on his plate.

"Well I think they're cute. Thanks Walter" Kurt said, cracking a small smile in Walter direction causing Blaine to roll his eyes.

"At least someone here recognizes my talent." Walter said playfully, placing another cherry on top of Kurt's pancake.

"Apple-polisher." Blaine mouthed, before taking a piece of his pancake and putting it in his mouth.

Kurt childishly stuck his tongue out. Suddenly, a loud bell echoed in the apartment. Kurt and Walter become tense and Blaine flinched with the noise, his head aching.

"Who could it be this early in the morning?" Walter wondered tone before receiving a panicked look from Kurt. The boy was beginning to hyperventilate, thinking that it could be the police coming to get him. Sure, yesterday he was ready to die in order to prove his humanity but now things were different. He had to find out what happened to his dad and also how he had been built. He didn't want to die anymore.

Walter took off his apron and softly squeezed Kurt's shoulder in assurance before he left to answer the door. Blaine noticed the tension filling the air and the terrified expression on Kurt's face. What was happening? Why did everyone suddenly seem so tense and scared?

Walter sighed, relieved at the sight of a ginger girl with a big and goofy smile.  
"It's just Penny." He announced, causing Kurt to let go of a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

"Who's Penny?" Blaine asked, seeing obvious relief stamped across Kurt's face.

"Walter's partner." Kurt answered.

A squeal coming from the living room caught the boys' attention.

"Walter!" The ginger girl squealed, wrapping her arms around the taller man's neck. She was carrying some shopping bags with her making the hug a little awkward.

"H-hi Penelope…" Walter said, being caught off guard with Penny's sudden display of affection.

"Don't call me Penelope, only my mother calls me that! Its Penny silly!" she said, softly punching Walter's shoulder.

"So… you didn't notice anything different about me?" She asked.

Walter took a good look at her. Her freckles still were there, her hair color was the same; her big puppy eyes were also the same. But there was something different about her. She seemed younger and even more naïve…

"You have bangs now!" Walter exclaimed, noticing the strands of her red hair covering her forehead.

"I look even prettier now don't I?" She asked, running her fingers through her hair.  
"You look even younger! Now my partner looks like a high school girl!" Walter exclaimed. He didn't think that Penny could look more naïve and young than she already looked with her puppy eyes and heart shaped lips, but apparently he was wrong, with bangs she looked even more young and even more sweet.

"Are you saying I don't look pretty?" Penny said, slightly hurt. He mother had said that she looked pretty. Why was Walter saying that she didn't?

"You do look pretty Penny, really, you do." the older man assured her, blushing a little as he tried make up for his words. "But you also look like a young naive girl. How are we going catch the bad guys if they want hug you as he try arrest them?" He concluded, trying to make his point without hurting her.

"Well, I'll just use my ninja moves then." The girl said, assuming an almost comic position as she tried to imitate the moves that she had seen during her last Bruce Lee marathon.

"This isn't helping with the too cute thing Penny…" Walter sighed. He could help but laugh. Penny was too sweet. Even his natural crankiness couldn't last around her.

"Where's Kurt?" she asked, stopping to look around. She considered cleaning the place, seeing as it was a complete mess. She had always had a thing for cleaning, after all.

"In the kitchen." Walter said. The ginger girl flew into the kitchen.

"Kurt!" she squealed as she threw her arms up in the air. She then looked beside him and noticed Blaine sitting there. "And you… Who are you?"

"Blaine." The hazel-eyes boy murmured, scared of the ginger girl's enthusiasm.

"Walter's younger son?" She asked, surprised. Blaine didn't look like he had in the picture she had seen at all.

"I've already seen a picture of you and I have to admit, I was expecting a dapper boy wearing a bowtie… but you still look good sweetie."

"I do?" Blaine asked raising an eyebrow. No one besides his one night stands or Quinn ever said that he looked good. Everyone who knew him before he had changed his style would always looked at him and give him a pitiful look and wonder what had happened to the younger, dapper boy.

"Of course you do, you have a really James Dean style! Believe it or not, I was a bad girl when I was a teenager too." she told them, remembering her times of leather jackets and motorcycles.

"You were?" Walter inquired in disbelief as he entered the room. Penny, the sweet girl that still lived with her parents and probably dreamed of fairytales had been a bad girl? That was something Walter could not imagine.

"I was! With the whole leather jacket thing, you know, short skirts, high boots… I even had a piercing! But I'm not going to tell where!" She said, playfully.

"PENNY!" Walter hissed, blushing furiously.

"It was in my belly, silly! Where did you think I would put a piercing!" She mocked, and he blushed into an even deeper shade of red.

"Walter, you pervert..." Blaine teased, shaking his head in a playfully reprehensive gesture.  
"I-I didn't think in... I-I…" The older man flustered even more before Kurt interrupted his disgraceful attempt of a good explanation.

"Penny you cut your hair!" He remarked, making the ginger girl blush adorably.

"You noticed!" She squealed before winking at the android. "I look cute don't I?"

"You look completely adorable!" Kurt assured her, before noticing the shopping bags that the girl held in her arms.

"What are those?" He asked her.

"Well I couldn't resist, so I bought you some clothes… You know, I assumed you would need some so..." She said, handing Kurt the bags.

Kurt looked into the bags and his eyes widened. Saying "some clothes" was an understatement. Penny didn't buy just simple clothes; she got him expensive clothes from the best brands and designers.

"Penny! T-those are… are…"

"Alexander McQueen? Of course sweetie, only the best." She told him, happy with Kurt's reaction. She had taken a good look at his old closet at Burt's house. The house had been cleaned and everything had been packed as evidence, but Penny noticed that Kurt only wore the best, the most fashionable clothes available, from the best designers. She couldn't just buy him a pair of pants from Wal-Mart if she truly wanted to please him.

"How did you figure out my size?" Kurt asked. All of those clothes were outfits that he had already planned on buying online. And they were all right sizes! Penny had to be an angel; she was some kind of fairy godmother. That could be the only explanation for such kindness.

"I have an eye for those things!" The ginger girl assured him. Kurt got up and wrapped his arms around Penny's waist.

"Thank you Penny!" Kurt cried as he hugged the girl. He was feeling close to happiness for the first time since his father's death. And it wasn't because of all those expensive clothes, sure, that made him really happy too, but what really made his heart warm up was seeing someone actually care about him; that made him feel less alone and loved again.

"I am so happy you're happy!" Penny breathed, returning Kurt's hug. He felt a little cold, but she didn't care. She just wanted squeeze the boy tightly in her arms. She had wanted to give him a hug since the moment that she found him, crying over his dad's dead body, and now she could finally give him some comfort.

"There's just too much fluffiness here for me. First the smiling pancakes and now this. What's next, are we all are gonna sing and ride unicorns and fly through a rainbow?" Blaine snorted, feeling a little jealous of Kurt. He couldn't even remember the last time that someone wanted to hug him like that.

"Be quiet Blaine! We all know that deep down you still have a heart, so don't ruin the moment!" Walter said.

*************

"Well, it's time for me to go to work. Do you need a ride to school, Blaine?" Walter asked his son, stuffing things into his briefcase.

"What? Why isn't the ice queen going to school?" Blaine asked. Kurt couldn't have graduated already, he was younger than Blaine!

"I was homeschooled so I don't go to school." Kurt informed them, walking out of the bathroom, wearing one of his new outfits. He was wearing knee high boots, a dark tight pair of skinny jeans and a very elegant long sleeved shirt that was a deep shade of gray that contrasted perfectly with the skin of his neck, now exposed. Blaine would never admit the fact that Kurt looked hot, really hot.

"That explains a lot." Blaine snorted, making the offensive comment in an attempt to take his eyes off of Kurt's perfect legs.

"What's that supposed to mean!" Kurt inquired. He was sitting on the red couch beside Penny.

"Boys…" Walter said. He really couldn't understand why those two could not get along. There was always this tension between them and the federal agent couldn't find a reason for all that hostility.

"Blaine you are going to need a ride or not? And don't try to fool me by skipping school. I will call the principal later to know if you showed up there." Walter told his son.

Hearing the authoritarian tone in Walter words made Blaine feel anger boil in his stomach. Who did Walter think he was? He hadn't been there for the past ten years and now he wanted play the part of 'the father of the year'? No one bossed Blaine around.

"I mean it Blaine. Your mother spoke with me about your behavior and those kinds of things will not be allowed while you live under my roof…" Walter began to say before Blaine interrupted him.

"And what are you going to do if I skip school? How are you going to control my behavior Walter? Ground me?" The boy inquired. "Being forced to live in this place is enough punishment!" Blaine cried. No matter how many smiling pancakes Walter had made or how many lectures he had given wouldn't change the fact that Walter was just a strange, a man and that he didn't know a thing about Blaine.

Blaine stood in front of his dad and looked fixedly into the older man's eyes. He looked so much like an adult, and seeing that made Walter's heart break.

Sure, Blaine's words had been as sharp as knifes, but that wasn't what hurt Walter the most. What really ripped the older man's heart was to see how much Blaine already looked like a man. And Walter didn't even have a chance to witness his son growing up. The little boy who used to look up to meet his eyes with a look of pure admiration wasn't there anymore. Standing in front of him was a young man and the only feelings left in his eyes were anger and resentment.

"Blaine, you can't talk to me like this…I'm you dad!" Walter rustled, trying his best to do so in a warning tone.

"Oh now, you want to be my dad. Where were you for the last ten years?" Blaine shouted, turning his back to Walter.

"Where are you going?" Walter hissed, seeing his son leave the room.

"To school. Apparently if I don't go to that hell where everyone mocks me for being a goddamn fag, _my daddy is going to ground me!_ " Blaine hissed ironically. School was a hell. It had been like that since a jock had outed him to everyone during his junior year. Soon after that most of the guys who used to be his "friends" turned their backs on him. Blaine was beaten and thrown in dumpsters on a daily basis. It didn't stop until he began to act ruthless and respond to his tormentors' violence with the same viciousness that they had used towards him.

" _F-fag?_ Why would they call you that?" Walter asked, shocked.

"Because that's what I am Walter, a fucking fag, a fairy, a cocksucker!" the boy cried, calling himself the names that had haunted him so much in the past, surprising everyone in the living room.

"But of course you don't know that. _How would you?_ " Blaine said in a hurt tone. He was giving voice to all of the pain locked in his heart. His dad's abandonment and the bullying of those he had once thought to be his friends. Everyone would always turn their backs on him. He would always be left alone.

Blaine glared at Walter sharply one last time before turning his back at his dad and slamming the door shut. He ran through the hallway, not looking back as he punched in Quinn's number on his cellphone, not really caring about the tears that were streaming down his face.

"Q? I don't feel like going to school today… what you think about doing something fun instead?" He said, trying to mask the cracking tone in his voice as he stepped into the elevator.

*************

"Walter…" Penny murmured, placing a comforting hand on the older man's shoulder. He stood frozen, staring at the door and still shocked by his son's outburst.

"Walter…" The ginger girl murmured again, this time bringing him back to reality.

"Don't, just-don't." Walter muttered, shaking his head. He knew that she was going to say something comforting; something to make him feel better. But he didn't want words to comfort him or looks of pity. He knew that he deserved every single word that Blaine had said to him. He hadn't been there for his son when he was being bullied, mocked, and picked on… He didn't even know about his son sexuality! How he could call himself a father?

"Let's go to work. We still need to analyze the evidence gathered from Kurt's house." Walter said his voice cracking as he tried to remain strong. He wouldn't break down. Right now, he had to focus on his work. He would fix things with Blaine later.

"Sure, if that's what you want" Penny murmured as she stood up.

"Are you going to be okay alone, Kurt?" She asked the blue eyed boy who was still seated on the red couch.

"Yeah, sure. I'll just clean this place up a bit." He before looking at Penny and mouthing, take care of him, to her.

She nodded before grabbing her things and following Walter, who was too lost in his owns thoughts to say goodbye to Kurt, out the door.

Kurt remained shocked after the whole Blaine scene. So that jerk was gay? And he had been bullied. Well, perhaps he does have a reason to be such an asshole after all, he thought. He then decided that it was none of his business weather Blaine was gay or not.

He then decided that it was time he did something productive around here. He would clean the place.

Kurt walked around the apartment, looking for a broom, cleaning supplies and garbage bags. The first thing he got rid of was the box of Chinese food. He then organized the coffee table, throwing away all the empty food containers in the trash can and then dusting the picture frames.

Next, he went to the kitchen where he washed the dishes and cleaned the mess that Walter had made cooking the pancakes. Kurt was tempted to throw away that horrible figure of a cat that was placed in the middle of Walter's dinner table, but assuming that it had some emotional value to the older man, he didn't and instead he just scrubbed it a little.

Kurt worked really hard trying to keep his mind busy in order to not think about how Blaine had been hurt and the pain in the boy's eyes. Somehow, all those insults seemed familiar to him, but it was impossible for Kurt to imagine. He had never gone to school. He barely left home. His dad would always make some excuse to keep him at home and the only few times he would go out was at night and to places far from Lima.

"Maybe someone would recognize me." Kurt considered as he swept the floor.

But then he remembered Walter's words. "You can't be Kurt Hummel. Kurt Hummel died ten years ago." and a shiver ran down his spine but unlike a normal shiver, this cold sensation lasted causing Kurt to feel really cold.

It was winter and the Walter's kitchen was a little chilly, but not enough to make him suddenly feel so cold like that.

It was really strange, his temperature feel so low. Sure, His skin always felt a little colder than others people, but not like that. He wished his dad was there, Burt would found a way to make him feel better, he always did. But his dad wasn't there anymore and Kurt was losing more and more body heat as the seconds passed by. A strange dizziness also began to take over him, making him feel even worse as everything in front of him turned in a confusing blur.

Everything was spinning and his legs weren't cooperating, but he still managed make his way to the thermostat and increase the heat.

He put the heat to the maximum temperature it could go to, but he still felt cold, unbearably cold.

Falling to his knees, Kurt embraced himself, trying to keep himself warm. He was trembling and the noise of his teeth gritting echoed in the room. His skin was colder than ice and even the tips of his fingers were turning purple.

Kurt needed heat and warmth and he needed it urgently.

Going back to his room, Kurt threw his weight onto Blaine's bed, curling up under the covers. He didn't have time to put his futon on the floor, or strength left to do it. All his muscles felt sore, twisting involuntary under his skin in a failed attempt to keep his body warm.

In his last seconds of conscious, Kurt clenched onto the sheets under him, smelling the musky smell coming from the mattresses.  
It was Blaine's smell which was a mix of coffee and nicotine that awoke a strangely comforting feeling in the android's chest, keeping him slightly warmer as the darkness of unconsciousness filled his mind.


	7. You Found me

Quinn arrived an hour after Blaine to the empty parking lot behind the abandoned building where they usually hung out. Her mother had decided to have another talk about how she used to be a good girl and how much she had changed before she left home, so she was running later than usual.

Quinn looked stunning as always, in a grunge sort of way. She was wearing a seriously tattered long sleeved gray shirt with a huge rip at the neck and lots of smaller tears. Over it she wore a black hoodie with a square cut leather jacket, and her legs were encased in slim leather motorcycle pants tucked into a pair of old military-style boots with many buckles, straps and laces. In order to cover her blood shot eyes, she had worn a pair of sunglasses that seemed to give her an even more bold appearance as she walked in Blaine's direction with heavy steps.

Blaine didn't look up when he noticed his friend coming closer. Instead, he remained seated on the ground, smoking and looking fixedly at his newest act of vandalism covering the dirty wall in front of him. As if looking at the red words he had painted on the wall would somehow help him to understand the confused feelings that were boiling up inside of him.

"What's with the beanie?" Quinn asked teasingly, messing with the old gray beanie covering Blaine's curls as she sat beside him.

"I was cold," he answered, leaning until he was supporting his head on her shoulder. He was still staring at the wall.

"What happened?" his best friend asked him, looking at the empty cans of spray paint lying on the ground. Scattered around next to them were some empty alcohol bottles.

Well, it looks I missed all the fun, Quinn thought before she carefully read the words that Blaine had sprayed on the wall and felt her heart tighten in her chest.

**I feel stupid and contagious**

**I am a creep I am a weirdo... What the hell am I doing here?**

**All the love gone bad turned my world to black**

The words were from self-hate songs that Quinn knew played constantly inside of her best friend's head.

"I came out to Walter," Blaine muttered, feeling all the anger he had felt when he was screaming at his dad boiling in his stomach again, this time accompanied by shame and embarrassment.

He knew that he was gay, and that there was nothing wrong with that, and he spent his days telling himself that he shouldn't feel ashamed of anything, but in times like those, when Blaine was forced to expose his sexuality and deal with the shocked looks in other people's eyes, Blaine couldn't help but feel wrong…he felt like a freak.

"And how did that go?" Quinn asked, lighting one of her mint flavored cigarettes. Soon, the sweet and slightly sickening smell of nicotine and mint filled the air. As it mixed with the smell of fresh spray paint and alcohol, it created a familiar and somehow comforting atmosphere around them.

"I am sitting in this stupid parking lot and the wall is covered with manifestations of my own self-hate. How do you think it went?" Blaine asked, letting out a humorless laugh as he rolled his eyes.

"Sorry. That was a stupid question," Quinn said, taking off her sunglasses and looking down and hugging her knees. She didn't know what to say. She had never been very good with words. Blaine was the smart one. She was just the stupid girl who had gotten knocked up her junior year of high school.

"Quinn," Blaine breathed, guilt washing over him in waves at seeing the look in his best friend's eyes. He wanted to punch himself for being so rude to her. "You don't need to be sorry. It wasn't a stupid question. I'm just having a bad day," he murmured apologetically. "It's just that Walter had this look on his face…like he was shocked and dazed when I told him, and I know that look too well, Q. That's the kind of look that always turns into a disgusted or disappointed one."

"I didn't look at you differently when you came out to me," Quinn said, trying to comfort him.

Blaine had come out to her in their junior year of high school, before she had gotten pregnant. When they weren't screwed up kids or the freaks of the school. Quinn was the head cheerleader and Blaine the adorably dapper boy. He had confessed to her that he had a crush on one of his friends, Ted, a stupid jock that later the same year punched Blaine and called him a fag after discovering he had a crush on him.

"You're the exception, Quinnie. My friends, my mother, everyone. You remember when Barbara caught me kissing that guy, Liam? She spent the whole week after that looking at me weird and then when she finally talked to me again, it was to tell me to not bring my "tall girlfriend" home again without warning her first."

"Liam did have kind of a girly hair cut," Quinn said, half-heartedly trying to defend Barbara.

"Yeah, he did, but Liam was a boy. Everyone could see that. Barbara just chose not to see it because it was easier for her deal with me having a tomboy girlfriend than having to fucking admit that she had caught me making out with a boy," Blaine said bitterly, remembering how Barbara had obviously tried to fool herself, pretending not to see all the signals that pointed to the fact that he was gay.

"Well, now she'll have to accept the fact that you're gay. You told Walter, didn't you? He'll tell her sooner or later," Quinn said.

"Giving them another damn reason to judge me…" Blaine trailed off. "Why was Cooper the one that died?" he whispered brokenly, burying his face in his palms. He was so tired of disappointing other people and being left behind. Why did Cooper have to go and not him? That would have been so much easier for everyone. His parents would have the perfect son that they had always wanted. The one who dated blonde cheerleaders and didn't cause them problems and Blaine would forever be remembered as the sweet dapper boy who wore bow ties.

Quinn slapped Blaine across his face. The sharp sound of the sudden impact echoed in the empty parking lot as pain spread through Blaine's head.

"Ouch! What that was for?" the boy hissed, before meeting Quinn's tear filled eyes.

"Don't you dare say that crap ever again!" she cried, tears blurring her vision and running down her cheeks, causing black streaks as her heavy makeup smeared.

"Quinn-" Blaine started to say, suddenly regretting his words as he took in the pained look in his friend's eyes.

"You wish you were dead? You wish that fucking Cooper was here instead of you?" she yelled. "What would Cooper have done when I got pregnant? Would he have defended me like you did when everybody at school gave me nothing but crap? Would he have had held me while I cried for hours or fought with my dad after he kicked me out of the goddamn house? No, he wouldn't have!" she shouted, looking right into Blaine's eyes.

Blaine held this stupid misconception that he was useless and that Cooper had been perfect and that no one would miss him if he died. But that wasn't true. Quinn didn't know what she would do if she lost him. He was the only man who loved her and took care of her without asking for anything in exchange. Every other man in her life had abandoned her like her father had when she got pregnant or used her for her beauty and body like some she was some sort of trophy, not caring about her feelings.

"I'm sorry, Q, I-I was…I'm sorry" Blaine said, wrapping his arms around his best friend in an attempt to make up for his words.

"I hope you are! Don't give me any more shit about how you wish you were the one who died!" Quinn hissed in a warning tone before leaning into the warmth of Blaine's arms as he hugged her. "And stop being such a self-centered jerk," she whispered childishly, making Blaine chuckle a little.

"If you stop being so damn bossy," Blaine answered back, laughing as Quinn punched him lightly. They sat there wrapped in each other arms, until Quinn's phone buzzed with an incoming call.

"So is that your phone or are you just happy to see me?" Blaine asked his friend playfully, feeling Quinn's phone vibrating against him.

"Fuck you, Anderson!" Quinn retorted with a giggle, hearing a "Nah, I'm not in the mood today," before picking up her phone.

_"Hey, babe, I have the house free today. How about you bring some movies over and we don't watch any of them?"_ a cocky and familiar voice said, sending shivers down her spine. It was Puck.

"S-sure, mom, I'm coming," Quinn lied, stuttering a little as she felt Blaine's eyes on her.

_"The hobbit's there with you, isn't he?"_ Puck mocked. Quinn bit her lower lip and glanced nervously at her best friend.

"Yeah, mom, I'm on my way. I'll see you soon," she said before hanging up, not giving Puck a chance to make an offensive comment about Blaine.

"I-I have to go. Um, my mom needs my help with, um, things," she said, causing Blaine to sigh heavily. It was obvious she was lying.

She stood quickly and fixed her make-up and hair before murmuring, "See you later, B," and turning her back on her friend. She couldn't even look into his eyes.

"Quinn!" he hissed, making her turn in his direction as he wrote new words in the walls.

_**Girl with the broken smile, you know you are incapable of lying to me, right?**_ was what he wrote. "Girl with the broken smile" was the nickname he had given Quinn after he had sung "She Will Be Loved" to her a countless amount of times, trying to make her feel better about herself.

Shame washed over Quinn in waves. She read the words written before her in fresh wet paint and knew she didn't trust herself to speak without breaking down. She just looked at her best friend silently, eyes pleading for him not to judge her before she she turned away from him again and walked away. She knew what she was doing was wrong and self-destructive, but she needed to feel loved so badly. So, so badly.

And no matter how good Blaine was to her, she needed love in a way that Blaine would never be able to give her.

_"And she will be loved…"_ Blaine sang hopelessly at the sight of Quinn driving away.

****************

"Walter...would you like to talk about what happened?" Penny asked, seeing Walter ramble aimlessly through the remaining evidence at Burt's house without really paying any attention to what he was doing. His mind was far away from work. He was still thinking about his son, about how little he knew about the boy. He never even considered that his younger son could be gay.

"Blaine always looked so normal," he unconsciously whispered, giving voice to the thoughts filling his head.

"Walter," Penny sighed, hearing her partner's words. She understood why Walter was thinking that way, but she had to change his mind.

"There's no such thing as normal. Normal doesn't exist. Every single person on the planet is entirely different from every other person on the planet. Which means you can be average. You can be typical," she said, looking straight into her partner's eyes. "But kids don't end up killing themselves, taking guns to school, or behaving in a self-destructive way because they want to be typical. They want to be normal, and more than anything else, they want to fit in. Because society builds this stupid concept of normality that only makes people feel bad about things that make them unique, like their talents, their bodies, their sexuality..."

"But, Penny-"

"Why do you think I wore short skirts, leather jackets and spent my nights out breaking things when I was younger? Because I was angry, Walter. I was so, so, so mad because everyone else besides me seemed to be normal, fitting all the standards of society, while I was this weird and nerdy girl, the skinny ginger that everyone mocked for not having big enough breasts and not being pretty enough," Penny said as her mind filled with memories about how she used to hate herself for not looking like the other girls.  
She remembered the nights that she would cry herself to sleep after spending hours looking at her reflection in the mirror, feeling ashamed of her small breasts and tiny hips. Those days, she didn't feel desirable and that make her feel rejected and furious. Why couldn't she be like the other girls? Pretty and attractive? Apparently, Penny had been born to be an outsider with her skinny body and her nerdy ways.

And all this angriness, this rejection and self-hate poisoning her heart and mind were the reasons why Penny would wake up one day and cut all her clothes, making her skirts shorter and her shirts tighter. She would show all those who mocked her how desirable she could be.

She dyed her red hair black, got a piercing and began to hang out with the others that, like her, also weren't good enough to be considered "normal." They broke things, drank alcohol and fought with others crowds of self-destructive teens. And when Penny wasn't with them or vomiting everything she had eaten in some dirty toilet to feel better, she fooled around with the boyfriends of the prettiest girls in school; the boyfriends of the same girls who used to bully her, saying that she was ugly and unattractive.

At first, doing those kinds of things felt good because the popular jocks were cheating on their perfect girlfriends, the prom queens and cheerleaders, with her, the freak of the school.

"Who's the ugly one now? Who isn't good enough?" she used to think, feeling proud.

But soon, these thoughts and the feeling of pride seemed to not last long enough, and after she was done with the boys, the feelings of dirtiness and repulsiveness began to kick in. She was repulsed by herself, with her body and with the way she had let herself be treated, like the school whore. She had almost reached the point of doing something that she couldn't turn back from.

But then one day while Penny was choosing her outfit for another day at school, Charles, her dad showed up in her room. Expecting a lecture about her skirt, or another speech about how much she was disappointing him, she had sighed and rolled her eyes, snippily asking him what he wanted. But surprisingly, Charles, a big man with a red mustache covering his small lips, didn't lecture or yell at her, he just looked at her with sad green eyes.

"What happened to my little girl, Penelope? Where is my little freckled princess that kept saying that she wanted to be a mermaid like Ariel?" he had asked her. And that was it. Seeing the tears streaming down her dad's face and seeing how her actions were hurting him made her realize how much she was hurting herself. She had gone so low just so she could feel pretty and loved, trying to get revenge on the girls that had hurt her.

That day, Penny didn't go to school or show up to the date she had set up with the quarterback of the football team. Instead, she had cried in her father's arms, promising to change and to give him his little princess back.

After that, Penny changed schools, bought new clothes and dyed her hair back to its natural color. It was hard give up some of her self-destructive habits, but she worked hard. She finally understood that normal didn't exist and that everyone was different and special in their own way. She understood that there wasn't anything wrong with her, the nerdy girl with the red hair.

"I-I…You're right, what kind of father am I? My son is gay and here I am calling him abnormal," Walter said, burying his face on his palms. He felt horribly ashamed.

"You're human, Walter, and like any other human you sometimes screw things up and you fail. But you're recognizing your mistakes now, and that's what matters. You want to make up for them, don't you?" Penny asked him.

"More than anything " Walter said, raising his eyes to meet Penny's. They were filled with so much care and comfort that Walter couldn't avoid the warm feeling spreading through his chest.

When had Penny become the mature one here? Walter thought, placing his hand over hers and giving the girl a smile.

"Then I assure you, you'll work things out with Blaine. You'll help him through this phase and you will have your little boy back," Penny said, flashing him a comforting smile as she laced her fingers with Walter's, squeezing his hand in a confident way.

****************

When Blaine finally got home after spending his afternoon covering walls with spray paint and breaking things, he was surprised for several reasons. First of all, the place was clean. Like, really clean. The gross box of Chinese food wasn't anywhere to be found. Strangely though, it was freaking hot inside of that apartment. Turning the thermostat to a reasonable temperature, Blaine began to look around, calling out for Kurt. But the boy wasn't replying.

"Maybe he went out," Blaine considered before entering his room. He let his bag fall to the ground with a loud thud at the sight of a weird figure curled up in his bed. It didn't take him too long to realize that it was Kurt as he approached bed.

Seeing Kurt curled up in the covers with his eyes shut, Blaine attempted to push away the memories from the last time he had gotten close to the other boy while he was asleep. He tried to convince himself that the weird feeling he had gotten when he had touched Kurt was just a side effect of all the alcohol he had ingested.

"Hey, Ice Queen! Get off my freaking bed!" Blaine grunted as he tried to pull the covers off of Kurt. "Besides being stupid, are you deaf, too? Wake the hell up!" he yelled before he finally noticed that there was something definitely wrong with Kurt. His skin looked slightly blue and that couldn't be a good thing.

"Hey! Kurt? Are you okay?" Blaine inquired, starting to feel worried.

As soon he touched the boy's shoulder he jerked away. Kurt's skin felt as cold as ice.

"Oh my God! Kurt!" he screamed, hovering over Kurt, his hands clenching the other boy's clothes and fiercely shaking him in a desperate attempt to wake him up.

"Kurt! Kurt! Kurt!" he screamed, despair overtaking him, seeing the way the boy remained immobile.

Blaine's eyes filled with tears. Kurt felt so cold, so unbelievably cold. The last time he had felt such coldness was during his brother's funeral when he had touched Cooper's hands for the last time.

"It's time to say goodbye to him, dear," were the words his mother had said to him that day. They echoed in Blaine's mind and he shook his head. No, he wasn't ready to say goodbye to anyone again, not so soon…

"Kurt, please wake up!" Blaine cried, holding the boy against his chest.

Kurt couldn't be dead. He had been fine just that morning, when he had been smiling and mocking Blaine. Kurt had to wake up. He had to open his unbelievably blue eyes again and give Blaine a bitchy glare, telling him to stop ruining his clothes or something like that. He just couldn't be dead. Blaine wouldn't be capable of handling another sudden death.

"Please, please wake up," Blaine murmured in Kurt's hair tightening his embrace even more as tears streamed down his face.

It was like Cooper's death all over again, the inexplicability, the abruptness. Once more, something that had brought some kind of warmth to Blaine's heart was roughly being taken away from him, without any explanation.

That couldn't be happening, not again.

"B…Bl—" an almost inaudible voice mumbled, causing Blaine to stop his desperate sobs and look down at the other boy's face. Kurt's eyes were slightly open and they we fixed on him.

Feeling Blaine's body heat, Kurt was stirred back to consciousness. The older boy was holding him so tightly, so desperately, his lingering scent invading Kurt's senses in such a way that it forced the android's body to fight against the cold feeling shutting down his system.

"Thank god," Blaine muttered. Kurt was alive.

Even though Kurt's eyes were only barely open, the android was capable of seeing Blaine's hazel eyes looking so beautiful and so desperate. Those two pools of golden honey were filled with worry, bright with fear.

"Y-you found m-me" Kurt said, clenching Blaine's jacket.

"Yes, I found you," Blaine whispered, still feeling terrified. His hands were all over Kurt, clinging eagerly to him as though he would lose him if he let go.

"Just stay with me, okay? I'll call for help. Just please, please, please keep your eyes open. Just keep your eyes open," Blaine told Kurt as he felt the boy beginning to slip back into unconsciousness. He was losing his strength and turning even colder.

Blaine grabbed his phone from his pocket and began to punch in his dad's number. He wasn't thinking rationally, but somehow he knew he had to call Walter.

"Walter! There's something wrong with Kurt! He—" Blaine began to say into his phone the second his dad answered the call.

Kurt heard Blaine's screaming and begging for someone to hurry, but he seemed so far away. Kurt was feeling so weak already.

"Blaine? Why are you calling? Shouldn't you be in school-?" Walter tried saying, but Blaine interrupted him.

"IT'S KURT! THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH HIM!" Blaine cried.

"What happened to Kurt?" Walter inquired, his voice sounding worried.

"I don't know, but he's really cold and isn't breathing properly. He's so, so cold, dad," Blaine tried to explain, but the words were coming out harsh and erratic as the despair building in his chest made it difficult for him to form coherent sentences. "Please, dad, I don't know what to do but I have to do something!"

"Blaine, calm down, I'm almost home. Just keep him awake and warm. I'll be right there!" his dad assured him before hanging up the phone.

Waves of light tremors were spreading through Kurt's body and his eyelids felt heavier and heavier as the seconds passed by.

"Please, Kurt, please don't close your eyes. I've got you, I'm here. And I promise everything will be alright," Blaine whispered in what he hoped was an assuring tone, making promises he had no idea if he was going to be able to keep.

Kurt felt safe at the sound of Blaine's promises. Even with all the confusion and dizziness coursing through his body, the android could still feel Blaine warm and solid against him. Blaine was holding on to him, and that was all he needed that moment.

"Y-you're still gonna to be punished you know, you broke a rule," Blaine said in an attempt to keep Kurt awake. "You were in my bed– I told you that the bed was mine d-didn't I-I?" Blaine said, forcing the words to come out of his throat. The lumps were making him stutter and speaking was painful as he tried to suppress sobs, but Blaine composed himself, closing his eyes and focusing on what he had to do. He had to keep Kurt awake.

"I-It's better, you have to get better soon, you little elf. Y-you have a hell of a punishment waiting for you," he added, making Kurt twist his lips slightly in an almost unnoticeable way before he closed his eyes and began to be overtaken by darkness.

"No, no, no, open your eyes! Kurt! Kurt! Please, open your eyes!" Blaine screamed before hearing Walter's and Penny's footsteps entering the living room. Blaine looked around impatiently.

"Walter's here, Kurt, just hold on, keep holding on," Blaine ordered, holding on to Kurt tightly.

And these were the last words the android heard before feeling a strange wave of coldness wash over him as Walter's strong hands took him away from Blaine's warmth.


	8. Emotion sickness

"I got him. I'll take care of him now," Walter assured Blaine, taking Kurt out of the boy's arms. Blaine resisted a little, clenching at Kurt's clothes, but he let go of the android as his father assured him that he would take care of him.

"What happened to him?" Penny asked Blaine, kneeling in front of the disordered boy.

"I-I don't know…I just got here and he was cold—he was so cold, Penny…" Blaine murmured, still feeling the cold feeling of Kurt ghosting against his skin.

"Calm down, Blaine. Kurt is going to be okay. We'll take care of him," the ginger girl told him, squeezing his shoulder before standing up and turning away. She looked at her partner, who was laying Kurt on the ground, looking for vital signs from the boy.

"What we are going to do, Walter?" she murmured, looking at her partner and fighting against the tears that burned her eyes at the sight of Kurt lying on the ground like that. The scene seemed disturbingly familiar. It reminded her too much of the way they had found Burt's body.

"I-I don't know," Walter breathed. There were no vital signs coming from Kurt, and he had no idea what that meant. Kurt had vital signs? How was he supposed to help the boy if he didn't have any idea about how the android's body worked?

"You have to take to the hospital! They'll fix him!" Blaine shouted. Kurt couldn't die, he just couldn't.

"We can't take him to a hospital," Walter said, running his hands through his curly hair and wondering what to do. Desperation was overtaking him. Kurt wasn't human, so taking him to a hospital wouldn't help him at all. There was nothing that a doctor could do for him.

"What? You have to take him to a hospital!" Blaine said anxiously. Why wasn't Walter doing anything? Why couldn't he take Kurt to a hospital? That was the logical thing to do.

"We can take him to Abrams!" Penny abruptly suggested.

"What? Who is this Abrams…?" Blaine asked, looking confused. Who was this Abrams person? Kurt needed to go to a hospital!

"You think that's a good idea?" Walter asked his partner, ignoring his son.

"He's our only choice!" Penny said. A. Abrams was the biggest hacker in the country. He already had been arrested multiple times for possession of illegal technology. If anyone could help Kurt, it was him.

"What're you talking about? Who the hell is Abrams? Kurt needs to go to a freaking hospital!" Blaine screamed. Walter and Penny were ignoring him completely, and they weren't doing anything to help Kurt at all.

"Blaine, trust us. We know what we're doing." Penny assured Blaine as Walter stood up with Kurt in his arms.

"Wait! Where are you guys going to take him?" Blaine exclaimed, standing up as he saw Walter leaving the room with Kurt in his arms. He didn't understand what was going on.

"Blaine, we're going to get help," Walter told him.

"WAIT!" Blaine gasped, grabbing onto Walter's arm. He wouldn't let them take Kurt away from him without explaining where the hell they were going.

"Where are you gonna take him?" Blaine inquired heatedly.

"Let go of me, Blaine! We're going to get him fixed." Walter spoke in a grave tone, looking into his son's eyes. He had never seen Blaine worried about someone like that. Blaine's mask of arrogance and superiority had fallen, and the only emotions that Walter could see on his son's face were concern and desperation. It was as if he wouldn't be able to live if something happened to Kurt.

"Let me go with you then," Blaine demanded, gripping his father's shirt. He couldn't let Kurt go. He hadn't held the boy in his arms for so long, promising that everything was going to be alright, just to watch him be taken away from him like that. Without any explanations about what they were planning or where they are going to take him.

"I'm sorry, Blaine, but you can't go with us," Walter spoke, his heart tightening in his chest at the sight of a tear running down his son's face. That look was disturbingly familiar. It was the same look the boy had at his brother's funeral.

"Please…" Blaine pleaded, clenching his father's shirt between his trembling fingers. "Let me go with you, Walter."

"I'm sorry, Blaine, I-I can't. But I promise you, everything will be alright," the federal agent whispered, disengaging himself from his son's grip and turning his back on him.

"Just like you promised you would be there for me ten years ago?" the boy retorted, angry tears in his eyes.

Walter felt Blaine's words tearing his heart apart, but he didn't say anything or even look back. Instead, he kept walking with the unconscious android in his arms while Penny followed him. There wasn't anything he could say to make Blaine believe in his promises. All he could do was try to get Kurt fixed, and for once, fulfill a promise made to his son.

***********

Blaine supported his weight against the closed door, taking deep breaths.

Walter promised that everything will be alright, the boy kept thinking. He was trying really hard to believe in his dad's words and forcing himself to ignore the voice in his head that was whispering all the promises his dad already made that he had never fulfilled.

Walter promised that he would visit Blaine, he promised that he would be there for him, and that he would show up at his birthday parties and his school plays. So many promises, but not one filled. On more than one occasion, Blaine had spent his birthday parties standing at the front door, waiting for his dad, assuring his friends that yes, of course his daddy would come, that Walter had promised him, but he never came. Also, on more the one occasion during his school plays, the boy had messed up his lines looking for Walter's face in the audience, just to see a empty seat.

And at first that hurt, that hurt a lot. On many nights Blaine went to sleep angry, feeling unimportant. Because of Walter's behavior, his son began to hate birthday parties, and never would step on a stage again. Blaine just reached a point where he no longer bothered to look to his side during the important moments of his life, expecting to see Walter there. He already knew that his dad would be too busy grieving Cooper's death to remember he that his younger son still lived.

Years ago, Blaine stopped waiting for Walter. And now, years later, that was exactly what his dad was asking him to do. To wait, to believe in him again. How could him ask for such thing? After Blaine lost faith in him, he just couldn't bring himself to believe his promises.

Blaine looked down at his empty arms. He still could feel the cold feeling of Kurt's skin against his and the way the pale boy had been trembling in his arms. His chest ached.

_"Y-you found me,"_ Kurt's words softly echoed in Blaine's mind, filling him with emotions he didn't know how to deal with.

Emotions were a disease, Blaine already knew that. Every time he let his feelings take control, bad things would happen. People had hurt him, and they usually just left without looking back. But Kurt wasn't going to do that…Was he?

_Why wouldn't he?_ Blaine thought. He barely knew Kurt, so why would the boy even care about Blaine? Everybody had left him. His father, his mother, his brother…

It was on a regular day like this, a school day, when his brother had died.

And it wasn't like in movies, where people would feel that something bad was about to happen. There wasn't a sad song playing in the background, warning that a tragedy would be coming. No, it had been a beautiful, sunny day.

Coop had left home late as usual, rushed and saying goodbye to Barbara with his mouth full and messing with Blaine as he ran out the door, calling his young brother little hobbit. There wasn't anything in his behavior that announced that something was about to happen, that in a matter of hours a drug addict would cross his path and take his life.

Blaine had spent that afternoon running around with a red sheet tied around his neck, saying that he was Superman. His dad was at work and his mother was baking an apple pie. Everything seemed normal and everything felt normal, but then the phone rang and suddenly, everything changed.

His mother answered the phone, curling her long fingers around it and smiling at Blaine, who was jumping from couch to couch, saying that he was going to fly. But as the grave voice spoke on the other side of the line asking Barbara if she was the mother of Cooper Anderson, her smile faded away and tears began to run down her cheeks and blur her impeccable make-up.

A piercing cry invaded the air as the black haired woman screamed and fell to her knees, feeling her heart being ripped out of her chest.

Blaine ran to his mother, frightened, asking her what happened, but their gardener took him away from there. He dragged young Blaine into the kitchen and made him promise to stay there like a good boy until a grown up came to retrieve him.

Blaine stayed in that kitchen alone, waiting for hours. His mother left the house, and the gardener had accompanied her. Clutching his red cape, the boy sat in the kitchen quietly. He wanted his mommy and wanted to cry, but he didn't. Instead, he just sat there, being a good boy until his Uncle Joe showed up and told him to go to bed, that his mom and his dad would be home soon and that they would explain everything to him.

Blaine felt his chest tighten as he put on his PJ's and went to bed without understanding what was happening. He had this feeling of impotence and of not knowing what was coming next, but he was certain that it wouldn't be something good.

And now, years later, Blaine was here again. Staying at home alone and waiting. But this time, he wouldn't be a good boy and he wouldn't just stand there, waiting for hours, just be informed that he had lost someone again. There was something crawling under his skin. It was the same unbearable feeling that he had felt years ago as he sat alone in a room, waiting for news.

Blaine stood up and ran to get his car keys. He wouldn't sit there and wait for more bad news, and have to deal with another one of Walter's empty promises. He felt so impotent, so weak, and at the same time so angry and hurt. The alcohol still remaining in his system from all his drinking that afternoon only made things worse, confusing. Memories of his brother, of the abruptness of Cooper's death, his dad's abandonment, everything was mingling, mixing in his mind as the memory of Kurt losing consciousness in his arms haunted him.

Blaine didn't even know where he was going as he drove through the unfamiliar streets of Walter's neighborhood. He just needed get out of there and get rid of the cold feeling of Kurt's skin still ghosting his body.

Blaine kept driving until he ran out of gas. He then realized that he had ended up in a familiar place. He didn't know how he had gotten to the alley where his friends hung out, but there he was. Blaine got out of the car, but as his friends walked over to greet him, Blaine saw Puck's smug face and he felt angry. So very angry.

A guttural noise came out of Blaine's throat. He clenched his fists tightly at the sight of that arrogant asshole with an arm around his best friend's waist. Quinn looked like she had been crying again.

He was just so tired of it, all the crying and the pain. At least once he needed see someone that caused pain and suffering being punished.

Doing something completely unexpected, Blaine ran in Puck's direction. He punched the taller boy square in the jaw. Puck didn't have time to even comprehend what was going on, because suddenly he was on the ground and Blaine was on top of him, beating him senseless. The shorter boy's face twisted in a mad expression as he punched and kicked whatever part of Puck's body he could reach.

Puck had never felt scared from being attacked before, but this time he couldn't help it, he froze. Blaine's eyes were filled with such rage, in a way that the boy had never seen before. And if no one stopped Blaine, he might end up killing him with his bare hands.

Quinn was screaming for him to stop, that he was hurting Puck, and Brittany's piercing cries were echoing in Blaine's ears. But their voices and pleas weren't enough to drown out the memory of Kurt whispering still resounding inside of his mind, corrupting his thoughts, blinding him with rage. He couldn't stop, he just couldn't, not when he was finally giving vent to all the dark feelings he had been locking in his heart in the past years.

He just wanted make all of those feelings, all of that emotional sickness go away.

Trying to prevent Blaine from hurting Puck even more or hurting himself, Mike and Sam stood up and dragged the boy away from Puck. They grabbed Blaine's waist and wrists trying to stop him, but the boy continued throwing punches at everything around him, screaming things that didn't even make sense. Cooper's name, his dad's, Kurt's...

Holding Blaine's arms forcefully behind his back and pressing him against the dirty ground as they supported their knees on his backbone, the boys finally managed immobilize him, stopping Blaine's mad outburst.

"What the hell's fucking wrong with you?" Puck rasped, spitting out some blood on the ground. The girls had kneeled around him and were trying to help him. Puck's face was red and some bruises were already turning into a deep shade of purple.

Blaine didn't answer him. He was panting heavily and tears were burning his eyes. He just wanted get rid of all of his feelings. Why couldn't he just get rid of them?

Seeing the broken look in her best friend's eyes, Quinn let go of Puck and walked towards Blaine. She knew that look was the same look that Blaine had on the day of his brother's funeral. Something had happened.

"Let go of him," she demanded of the boys holding on to Blaine.

"Are you sure?" Mike inquired. The pink haired girl nodded and he and Sam let go of Blaine.

"What happened?" she whispered, kneeling beside Blaine and placing her hands on his cheeks.

"H-he was s-so cold, Q, so cold..." he mumbled, his voice cracking.

"Who was cold?"

"C-cooper... no, it w-was K-Kurt! Kurt was so fucking cold…" the boy spoke, too disordered by all the memories filling his mind and the alcohol remaining in his system.

Quinn wrapped her arms around him as he buried his face in her shoulder, sobbing desperately and clutching at her in the same desperate way he had clung to his mother when she had told him that his brother was dead.

"What's wrong with him? Is he broken?" Brittany asked her girlfriend, seeing how devastated Blaine seemed.

"Yes, baby, he is broken…Too broken…" Santana answered, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend. She needed to remember herself that at least there was something good in this fucked up word.

***********

A. Abrams become famous as an activist for the robot freedom movement at the age of only eighteen years old. He hacked the Avalon's system, becoming a legend in cyber space. Every time he was arrested, all over the country hackers would make a commotion and would threaten to shut down the government's system if they didn't free him. Everyone thought that Artie was some oriental boy living in some big city, but the truth was that the famous A. Abrams was just Artie. A twenty year old boy who wore huge glasses, lived in Lima, Ohio and was in a wheelchair.

What motived him, a small town nerd, to fight in the cause of robot rights, was a domestic model of a robot that his mom had bought for him to help him after he was left paralyzed following a car crash when he was eight years old and left in a wheelchair. C-3PO, as Artie called his domestic model, didn't seem any different from any regular robot. He was faceless, gray, and programed to obey his owner's orders.

But there different something about C-3PO which no one besides Artie seemed to notice. The robot didn't do just only what he was programed to do.

In the beginning, Artie's super protective mother programed C-3PO do everything for Artie. He would carry the boy around, make Artie's food, help him dress; the robot even brushed the boy's hair. And Artie never told his mother, but that robot really annoyed him. He was sick of people, and now of C-3PO, doing things to him that made him feel useless and like an invalid.

Then one day, Artie woke up and positioned himself on the edge of his bed, ready to be dressed by C-3PO. But the machine surprised him by placing his clothes beside him and leaving the room. Artie didn't understand what was going on. His mother had programmed C-3PO to help him to dress, and the robot's behavior didn't make any sense. But once he was already late for school, the boy was forced to dress alone for the first time in years. And surprisingly, it felt good. Sure, putting on his shoes was really hard, but he felt like he had saved Princess Leia when he finally managed do it.

The rest of that day went as expected, and C-3PO did all the other things that he was programmed to do. Artie thought that the robot actions that morning were just some sort of defect. But the next morning the robot did the same thing, and then the morning that followed, and the next, and as the time passed, C-3PO began to do fewer and fewer things for Artie, forcing the boy to learn how to do things on his own. C-3PO was teaching him to be independent. And doing things on his own felt good; it made the boy feel important, like a man.

Thinking that his mother had programed C-3PO to do that, Artie went one day to thank her. But unexpectedly, his mother told him that she didn't program C-3PO do anything like that, deciding that the robot probably had some sort of defect.

Other owners wouldn't be pleased by the idea of their robots having some kind of defect, but Artie was more than pleased, he was amazed. C-3PO was special. Artie decided to research on the internet more about this and discovered that other robots also presented similar behaviors, "defects", that made them act in an almost human way.

Joining the online forums and communities about "H.U.M.A.N.S", the name gave to robots with human behavior, Artie discovered amazing things. Cases of robots throwing themselves in front of cars to defend their owners, robots that developed artistic gifts and that began to not only repeat the music their owners programmed them to play, but to play new ones, some even composed by themselves.

No longer seeing C-3PO as a utensil, Artie began to grow closer to the machine, observing all the little components that C-3PO had that made him seem so human. However, his mother didn't look at C-3PO's behavior as something positive, but as a defect. She saw it as flaw that need to be corrected.

And one morning, as Artie began to dress, an unfamiliar gray robot entered him room, taking the shirt out his hands and dressing him forcefully. Artie screamed for his mother who rushed into his room. As his mother entered his room the boy immediately asked for C-3PO, demanding to know who this strange machine in his room was. His mother calmly answered him that she had gotten rid of C-3PO and had bought a new robot, one without "defects."

Artie was devastated for weeks. He went to the Avalon's industries, demanding C-3PO back, and found out that they had already destroyed his friend, following the protocol of how to deal with machines that presented irregular behavior.

After that, Artie left home and became an activist for Robot's rights.

He had crossed federal Agent Walter Anderson's path on countless occasions, and such occasions usually ended up with him in jail. It would end with his mother paying his bail and telling him that if she knew that he would turn into a criminal, she would never have bought C-3PO at first place.

And that was the reason why when Artie went to answer his door, still in his Star Wars pajamas, the last person he considered that would be waiting outside would be Walter, holding an unconscious boy and being followed by an unfamiliar and nervous ginger girl.

"Look, I didn't do anything wrong this time, I swear!" the boy shouted, before Walter invaded his apartment. "Okay, okay, I did download some illegal stuff, but c'mon, you guys can't be arresting people for illegal downloads now, can you? And what's it with the sleeping beauty?" the boy asked, confused as Walter placed the unconscious boy on Artie's couch.

"You need to help him!" Walter hissed, pointing to the pale boy.

"What? How would I help a… Wait a minute, is he a…?"

"A robot! Yes! Now please help him!" Penny cried, shocking Artie.

"God… But he seems so…so… real. I've never seen anything like him before, even the old sexual satisfaction models weren't as perfect as this…" the boy murmured, approaching the android and reaching a hand out to touch the boy. His skin was soft, not silicon or plastic soft, but fleshy soft. How was that possible?

"Can you help him?" Walter inquired, desperation palpable in his voice.

"Why would you want me to help him? He is obviously an illegal model!" Artie frowned, not understanding what the hell was going on.

"Just help him, please!" Penny pleaded.

"Alright, alright…" Artie finally agreed. He would never be able to say no to a pretty girl.

"Give me your taser," he said to the ginger girl, who frowned at his request.

"My taser?"

"Yeah, yeah, your taser. C'mon, this is a dangerous city and you're a pretty girl. Every smart girl has a taser nowadays," he explained, raising a hand to take the taser that Penny hesitantly took out of her purse.

He opened the small devise quickly and began to disconnect and reconnect its cables in different positions to change its voltage.

"What're you doing?" Walter inquired, not understanding what the boy was intending to do.

"Changing the taser's voltage." Artie answered, too focused on plugging and cutting the cables of Penny's small self-defense devise.

"Why?" Penny asked, confused.

"Well, you know, I already missed the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back anyway, so why not electrocute an unconscious robot?" Artie sarcastically answered before plugging one last cable and touching small Kurt's chest with the taser, discharging a lethal charge of electricity through the android's body and scaring the two federal agents standing in front of him.

"Why the hell do you just do that!" Penny yelled, shocked.

"Because I'm a freaking genius," the boy in the wheelchair said, winking as the pale android's eyes slowly opened.


	9. Der Kleine Prinz

"So you fixed him?" Penny asked, relieved at the sight of Kurt slowly opening his pure blue eyes.

"No, I didn't…that was only temporary," Artie said as he supported Kurt, who was trying to sit up.

"Bl…Blaine…" Kurt grunted, his tongue feeling thick in his mouth. Everything was so blurred around him that he couldn't figure out where he was. Some sort of light was blinding him and the ache was preventing him from opening his eyes. His head was pounding almost unbearably, and his entire body seemed to not be responding to his commands.

"How can we fix you?" Artie inquired of him, his voice seeming too far away to make sense.

"Hey! Hey, how can we fix you?" the hacker asked again, repeating the question several times before Kurt could understand what he was saying.

"F-Fix m-me?" the android tried to say, but the words came out too slurred and he began to feel the coldness kicking in again. The shivers were returning and he could feel them almost begging to spread inside of his body, spine and bones, as if they could freeze him inside and out.

"How did your creator fix you when this happened to you?" Artie questioned the confused android again, only bewildering him more. His creator? What was this man talking about?

"Kurt! Kurt, look at me. How did your dad fix you when you felt this way?!" Walter asked, grabbing Kurt's face and forcing the android to look into his worried hazel eyes.

"I-I don't k-know" Kurt murmured, responding to the federal agent's question, feeling as though he was drowning in the hazel of Walter's eyes. They were the same color as Blaine's eyes. As his mind filled with thoughts of the older boy, Kurt's stomach flipped and a warm feeling spread throughout his body.

Kurt tried to focus on the warmth, because that was what he needed. He tried keeping his eyes open, but it was too hard. His eyelids felt too heavy and the cold feeling overtaking him was too intense. In a matter of seconds the android was unconscious again.

"Dammit!" Artie hissed. "Get that bag over there for me, Penny!" he said to Penny, pointing to a bag placed on the coffee table.

She quickly got the bag and handed it to Artie, who spread all of its contents out on the coffee table. Taking a small pocket knife in his hands, Artie placed its blade in the base of Kurt's neck.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Walter shouted, holding Artie's wrist and stopping him from cutting Kurt's skin.

"I'm doing what you told me to do, fixing him! Now let go of me!" Artie demanded Walter, looking into the man's eyes. The older man let go of Artie's wrists, allowing the young hacker to proceed with whatever he was planning to do. He didn't have any other choice other than to trust Artie; the boy was his only hope.

Artie, pressing the blade into Kurt's skin, made a rectilinear cut following the line of his spine. Some blood flowed out as the artificial flesh was cut, which frightened Penny.

"You're hurting him!" she cried, clenching onto Walter's coat.

"I'm not hurting him! I'm looking for a way to access his system," Artie muttered, opening the cut and focusing his attention on finding an interface.

"Hand me that instrument over there," Artie directed seconds later, pointing to a small yellow device. It was similar to a voltmeter, with two cables, one black and one red, a small screen and a small keyboard.

"What are you doing?" Walter asked, giving Artie the device.

The hacker plugged the small device into an entry hidden in the back of Kurt's neck, close to the beginning of his metallic skull.

"Most Androids have entries like this that allow us to connect peripheral devices to their central processing." Artie explained, typing almost frantically on the small device's keys as numbers appeared on its screen. "And this peripheral device over here is what will allow us access to his system."

"So can you discover what's wrong with him?" Walter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah, kind of," Artie said "Now can you two shut up please? I can't do my work if I have to keep answering your questions," he said, his eyes focused on the small screen.

"Okay, okay. No more questions," Walter assured Artie.

"Fuck!" The young hacker grunted in frustration just minutes later. "I can't access his operating system. It's protected by an access code. Is there any chance that one of you knows his access code?"

"His access code?" Penny frowned, looking at Walter. The older agent shook his head, confused. They didn't have any such information; actually, they had no information at all.

"Dammit. It'll take me hours to figure out the code just by guessing," Artie said, biting his lower lip. He needed more information and more time. He had never worked with such an advanced model as Kurt, which meant that breaking his security system wouldn't be easy.

"He doesn't have time! His temperature is getting colder and colder by the second!" Walter shouted.

"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed that!" Artie said sarcastically. "Thank you, Walter, for stating the obvious!"

"Look kid, I don't know who you think you are, but-" Walter began, raising his tone of voice.

"Who do I think I am? I'm the one who's going to fix this boy, now unless you have any helpful information, it would be nice if you would please shut up and let me work," Artie boldly interrupted the older man before turning his attention to Penny. "I need you to use your Taser on him again."

"W-what?" the ginger girl asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Yes, but you don't have time. Maybe Kurt can tell us himself what his access code is, so I need him to be awake." Artie pleaded

"Okay," Penny said in a small voice. With trembling hands, she discharged another electrical pulse into Kurt, whose muscles contracted instantly.

The android opened his eyes seconds later, whimpering at the strong pain in his neck. What was happening? Why was he feeling so much pain?

"Kurt, do you know your access code?" a voice asked him, but he was in too much pain and too confused to answer.

"Kurt! Focus!" Walter said grabbing his face and forcing him to look into his eyes again.

"Do you know anything about an access code?" He asked. Kurt closed his eyes murmuring a weak "no" as an answer.

"Alright, alright what would be important enough to your dad that he could use as an access code?" Walter asked slowly.

"D-der k-kleine prinz…" Kurt muttered, closing his eyes again.

"What did he say?" Artie rustled anxiously. He didn't understand a word of what Kurt had just said.

"Der Kleine Prinz! It means The Little Prince in German!" Penny yelled. It was at times like this she was glad she was such a fan of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. She had all of the editions of his book The Little Prince, including the one in German.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Walter frowned, confused.

"Well, it's not the access code," Artie said as his attempt to access Kurt's system using those words failed.

"The first edition of The Little Prince was published in 1943," Penny said nervously, making Artie quickly type the numbers 1, 9, 4 and 3. He really hoped that Penny's guess was the right one. He didn't know how many guesses he would be allowed to try before the android's system shut down completely.

The hacker squealed happily, finally managing to access Kurt's operating system.

"You made it in?" Penny inquired.

"Yes, yes. Now I am trying to figure out what's wrong with him." Artie murmured before his eyes widened. "God..." he breathed, looking shocked.

"What?" Walter inquired. "Did you find out what is wrong with him?"

Ignoring the older man's questions, the young hacker kept typing several codes into his small device.

All that it indicated was that Kurt was infected with some kind of malware that was attacking his system. It was now stopping his security programs, which seemed to be related to his secondary functions, such as body heat, in order to access the folders where his operating system was located.

Why someone would infect Kurt with such program? Artie thought, confused. Infecting an Android with a malware was one of the most difficult tasks for a hacker. Only a few people he knew were capable of doing such a thing, and Artie couldn't believe that a hacker in his right mind would disable an android like Kurt. He was a scientific miracle, and anyone who loved technology to the point of having such knowledge shouldn't be able to harm something as amazing as him.

Putting his doubts aside and focusing his mind on fixing Kurt, Artie began to work in isolation. He removed the malicious program without mistakenly deleting any essential operating system file. It wasn't exactly an easy quest, since he was working almost blindly here. He didn't really know Kurt's operating system or how to identify precisely what was an essential file and what wasn't.

Once he had discovered the malware and isolated it, Artie pressed the Delete button on the screen of his small device, removing the file.

"I think I got it," he murmured, relieved. But his relief didn't last for too long, because Kurt pushed the young hacker away and managed to unplug the cable connected in his neck, falling on his back and shaking.

"What's happening?" Penny inquired, scared. "You said you had it!"

Before Artie could come up with some sort of explanation, the light shaking overtaking the android's body turned into a violent trembling. Kurt's eyes were rolling behind his head and his hands were tightly clenching the couch under him, so forcibly that his thumbs began to turn white.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HIM!?" Walter roared angrily, gripping Artie's shirt and causing the young hacker to panic.

Apparently he had screwed things up really badly this time.

*********

"C'mon, Blaine, I'll drive you home," Quinn said quietly, caressing Blaine's face with her fingers. He seemed so broken and in so much pain. She had only seen him in that state on three other occasions.

The first time she had seen that look in her best friend's eyes was during Cooper's funeral. Blaine had clutched his mother's dress and attempted to hide himself from the people approaching him and telling him that they were sorry for his loss. The second time was after Walter had left home. Blaine had run to her house, holding his favorite toy clutched to his chest. He had begged her to never leave him and had asked his best friend what he had done wrong because people seemed to just keep leaving him.

And the last time had been during the second semester of their junior year when Blaine was punched in front of the whole school and had been called a faggot by the boy he had a crush on, after finally having the courage to tell the boy how he felt. After that, she never heard her friend telling her that he liked a boy ever again.

Quinn didn't like that look. Blaine was her source of strength; she was usually the one who ran to him, needing comfort and protection. Seeing the person that usually protected her from pain looking so devastated hurt her in such a deep way that she didn't even care about the fact that Puck, her current love obsession, had a black eye and it was Blaine's doing.

She was too focused on her best friend, who she knew was feeling exhausted between his break down and everything that had happened. He leaned into her touch, closing his eyes as she gently cupped his face. "I don't want to go home," he mumbled, the same way he had told her years ago, with the same vulnerability in his voice, only this time without his favorite toy clutched against his chest.

Blaine didn't want to be there waiting for Walter to break another promise, and he didn't want to be there when his dad came back to tell him that Kurt didn't make it, much the same way he had told Blaine about Cooper years ago.

He wouldn't be able to bear reliving that pain all over again, especially after holding Kurt in his arms and promising the young boy that everything would be okay.

"You can crash at my place then," Quinn offered, resting her forehead against his and looking straight into his hazel eyes, trying to comfort him. "It will be like the sleepovers we used to have," she murmured, cracking a small smile at the memories of the two of them making forts out of sheets to protect themselves from the monsters that lived under their beds.

There was so much caring in her words, in her gestures, and such a strong bond between those two friends that the other broken teens around them couldn't help but feel their eyes water a little.

Some of them felt slightly envious of that bond, wishing to be able to have such a strong friendship, but most were just feeling moved by the demonstration of affection.

Santana held Brittany, who was actually crying now, tears running her face as she innocently asked her girlfriend if they could adopt Blaine. Sam couldn't help but think of his brothers, secretly promising himself that he would never leave them. Even Mike, who was always so quiet and distant, couldn't help but feel his heart tighten a little.

And of course, seeing all of his friends watching Blaine and Quinn's little scene drove Puck mad. He had been attacked seconds ago and now everyone was already feeling sorry for the hobbit? For God's sake, he was the one with the black eye!

"You have to be fucking kidding me!" Puckerman shouted angrily.

"Don't," Santana hissed, gripping Puck's jacket and stopping him before he could walk in Blaine and Quinn's direction and start another fight.

"Don't? That little freak attacked me out of nowhere and you want me to just sit and watch as she takes care of him as if he was the one who was attacked?!" Puck shouted.

"Don't you see how messed up he is? Leave it, man," Sam said, making Puck even angrier.

"Why is every damn person here defending him? He attacked me! He hurt one of us!" the taller boy shouted. He had just been punched in the face and everyone seemed to be ignoring that!

"Don't be such a fucking hypocrite, Puckerman! You may have never physically hurt any of us, but everyone here knows how badly you messed up Fabray!" Santana growled, clenching her jaw.

"How many times has she shown up with scars from cutting herself, or with red eyes from crying because of what you fucking do to her?!" she concluded, silencing the taller boy. Everyone knew how he treated Quinn, and no one besides Blaine ever did or said anything to him. Puckerman had been deserving of more than a punch for a long time and he was already pissing the Latina girl off with all of his whining about how Blaine had attacked him.

"Are you gonna take him home with you, Fabray?" Santana inquired, looking at Quinn as she was helping Blaine up. "Because you know, my place always has room for a fucked up kid."

"Don't worry San, I got him…We'll see you guys tomorrow. And Puck, put some ice on your face," the pink haired girl said, leaving the dark alley and her friends behind. She would take Blaine home and take care of him now. She could solve her problems with Puck tomorrow.

"You really do look like a mess, B," she said, hopping into her car as her best friend did the same.

"You really think that Kurt's not gonna make it?" Quinn whispered, turning the key in the ignition as Blaine curled up in the passenger seat.

"Walter promised that everything would be alright," Blaine murmured as he began to draw random patterns in the moisture condensed on the cold glass. It seemed so cold outside, just like Kurt's skin...

"And that's good, right? If Walter promised that it's going to be okay…" Quinn trailed off, trying to be optimistic.

"Let's just say that I learned throughout the years to never trust Walter's promises…" the boy murmured in an almost inaudible way as tears fell from his eyes.

*********

"I asked you what you did to him!" Walter shouted furiously.

"I fixed him?" the boy said in a small voice, clearly frightened by the rage that he saw in Walter's eyes. Whoever this android was, he seemed to be really important to the federal agent.

"You did what?! I asked you to fix him!" the older man shouted as he tightened his grip on Artie's PJs. "He seems worse to me!"

"He's getting warmer!" Penny squealed, touching Kurt's skin as the trembling stopped.

"What?" Walter said incredulously. He turned to his partner who was kneeling beside Kurt with a hand placed on his forehead.

"He's getting warmer Walter! Kurt's warmer!" the ginger girl cried.

Letting go of Artie's shirt, Walter ran towards the couch where Kurt had been laid. He knelt beside Penny and placed his hand tentatively above the android's forehead.

"H-he is warmer!" Walter exclaimed, amazed as Penny nodded, smiling widely. Some tears were running down her freckled cheeks, her face clearly showing that these were tears of joy.

Wrapping her arms around her partner, the girl buried her face in his shoulder, feeling relieved. "He's warmer, Walter, he's getting better," she kept whispering, tightening her embrace around him.

"He is, Penny, he is," Walter said, reciprocating Penny's hug.

Kurt was okay, and for the first time in years, Walter would be able to fulfill a promise to his son. The federal agent couldn't feel happier or more relieved.

"I told you I had fixed him," Artie snorted, fixing his shirt and giving the two federal agents a superior glare. Sure, he'd had no idea what he was doing when he had been trying to fix Kurt, but they didn't need to know that.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" Penny cried, still hugging Walter.

"You're welcome. But if you don't mind, do you care to explain what the hell's going on here?" the young hacker demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

These two had some serious explaining to do.

*********  


"So correct me if I'm wrong…you two found the most advanced android in existence inside a secret lab in Lima Heights, next to a dead body, and you didn't shoot him down or turn him in because he seemed too human?" Artie inquired, reciting back what he understood of Walter and Penny's explanations.

"Yeah, pretty much that… and then Walter took him home," Penny concluded. The ginger girl was seated on the living room couch with Kurt visibly better and sleeping peacefully in her lap.

"You took him home? Really? You?" Artie inquired, disbelievingly. Walter Anderson, the same federal agent that had arrested him numerous times before, always following every single rule and protocol so carefully, was now hiding and protecting the most advanced form of illegal technology in existence? If he hadn't actually seen Kurt, he would have never believed the man.

"I swear, if I hadn't fixed Kurt minutes ago, I would think that this was some kind of joke," the boy in the wheel chair said.

"We can count on you to keep this a secret, right?" Penny asked, her fingers caressing Kurt's chestnut hair.

"Am I going to keep a secret involving the most advanced illegal model robot I have ever seen? Hell, yeah," he said, smiling. Artie didn't care how famous he could become by exposing Kurt. After hearing this story, he just wanted to help the android and find out how he had been built.

Moving around his small apartment in his metallic wheel chair, the young hacker approached an old picture frame on the wall with a huge picture of Darth Vader inside of it and made a strange pattern on the picture.

"What are you doing?" Walter asked.

"Helping you guys," the boy answered as the wall where the Darth Vader picture was hanging began to move, revealing a metal door.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! Does everyone have a secret lab at home nowadays?" Walter exclaimed, making Penny laugh a little.

"Bring the android. We're going to find out what he is made of," Artie said, enjoying the sight of Walter's confused expression.

*********

"Does his mother know he's here?" Blaine heard Mrs. Fabray ask her daughter as he sat waiting in Quinn's room. He was lying on Quinn's bed, staring at the door and listening to Mrs. Fabray's lecture to Quinn about how she should warn her before bringing people over to spend the night.

"He's living with his dad now, mom," Quinn's said, and Blaine could almost see her rolling her eyes by the sound of the irritation in her voice.

"So Walter knows about his son spending the night here?"

"Yes," Quinn lied.

"I don't know if I like the idea of this, Quinn…" her mother murmured, in a failed attempt to not be heard by Blaine who, in fact, was capable of hearing every single word that she said.

"Mom!" Quinn hissed, sounding clearly annoyed. "Blaine's gay!"

"I know he's gay, sweetheart, but you see the way he dresses? What will the neighbors think, after seeing someone with such peculiar style, spending the night at our house?" Mrs. Fabray asked, biting her lower lip at the thought of what other people would think at the sight of a boy covered with piercings and wearing ripped clothing, spending the night at her house.

"Yes mom, I've already seen the way he dresses, it's the same way I dress! You really think that the neighbors don't know already how fucked up your daughter is? Did you forget that I got pregnant 2 years ago?" Quinn hissed in a mix of anger and embarrassment over her mother's comments. Her mother used to be Barbara's best friend. She had known Blaine since he was a kid, how could she talk about him like that?

"Don't speak to me like that, Quinn. I'm your mother!" Mrs. Fabray hissed.

"And Blaine's my best friend! A boy almost died in his arms today! There's no way I'm gonna leave him alone just because of what my neighbors might think!" the girl shouted back, glaring at her mother defiantly.

"A boy almost died? Quinn, you guys aren't dealing with drugs now, are you? Oh God, what is your father going to say when he finds out about this?" the woman wailed, placing a hand dramatically over her chest.

"What does dad have to do with all this!? Dad left us, mom! It's been two years!" Quinn shouted. She hated the way her mother still threatened her by saying that she would tell her father what she had been doing. Quinn's father didn't care about what his daughter was doing. He was too busy fucking some brainless woman who was twenty year younger than him on some tropical island.

Mr. Fabray was biggest hypocrite alive. He had kicked Quinn out of his house after he found out about her pregnancy, alleging that she had brought shame to his family. A few months later, he was caught cheating on Quinn's mom with his secretary.

"And who's fault was that?!" the older woman asked, venom dripping from her words. Mrs. Fabray never lost an opportunity to blame Quinn for her own failed marriage. It was a lot easier to point out what was wrong with her daughter than to look at her own mistakes and flaws.

"I-I can't believe you just said that!" Quinn shouted. She could feel tears burning her eyes, but she wouldn't give her mother the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"I won't answer that, because unlike you, I don't like to blame other people for my mistakes to make myself feel better!" the girl whispered, glaring furiously at her mother before turning her back and entering her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

"We have the most fucked up parents ever, don't we?" Blaine asked, seeing his best friend standing against the bedroom door, panting heavily and fighting against tears.

"I-I don't know… That octomom was pretty crazy, don't you think?" Quinn mocked, sitting on her bed beside Blaine and giving the boy the chance to support his head on her shoulder as he looked up at the old pictures and posters glued to Quinn's wall.

"Why is everything is so fucked up, Q?" the boy asked, looking at an old picture of them. They had probably been five or six years old in that picture. Blaine was wearing a bowtie and red shorts as he tightly hugged Quinn, who was wearing her favorite pink dress and a matching princess tiara. They seemed so happy and everything seemed so simple. There wasn't death, self-hate, or destructive relationships ruining their lives. In those days, their only concerns were if their mommies were going to make them sandwiches shaped as then, they weren't known as the problematic kids or the kids that embarrassed their parents in front of the neighbors.

"If I promise you that everything's going to be okay, would you believe me?" Quinn whispered into Blaine's hair.

"If you did, I would," he whispered, lying in her lap like a small child seeking warmth.

"Then I promise you, B..." she murmured softly, turning off the lights. "Everything is going to be alright."

*********

Even though Artie called it the lab of illegal technology, Walter observed that it didn't even have half of the technology or the number of computers that Burt's lab had. There were only four or five computers, one bench, and what seemed to be an MRI machine. It was, in a certain way, impressive for a clandestine lab, but it wasn't even close to as impressive as Burt's clandestine lab had been.

"Alright, alright, put him right there," the boy in the wheelchair said, pointing to bench.

"Is it normal for him to still be asleep?" Walter asked, holding Kurt in his arms. The boy did seem better. His skin was warmer and his color looked healthier. But Walter didn't understand a thing about androids or how they worked, and he wanted to be sure that Kurt really was okay.

"Yes, it's normal. He's just exhausted. His system was attacked by a virus that tried to delete his whole operation system for god's sake!"

Walter looked at Artie in confusion. "I still don't understand…"

Artie sighed. "Kurt was infected with a virus designed to delete his whole operating system. If this malware had succeeded, no matter what we tried Kurt wouldn't work again."

"Couldn't we just reestablish his whole operating system?" Penny asked.

"I think only the person who programed him would be able to do such thing. And even if we did find a way, which would be highly unlikely and take years, maybe decades to do, most of the details that make Kurt so human would be lost in the process."

"Oh my god..." Penny gasped. "How did someone have the courage to infect Kurt with such virus?"

"Well, someone did, and I have to say, the person who infected him knew Kurt's programming really well, maybe too well. I am just guessing here, but I think that it was the designer of his programming that infected him."

"Wait... Are you saying that Burt infected Kurt with a virus?" Penny asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"That doesn't make sense. He treated Kurt like his son! Why would Burt infect Kurt which such thing?!" Walter shouted, confused and slightly angry. He couldn't believe that Burt would treat Kurt as a son for so long, making the boy believe in his humanity, only to get rid of him years later. Why? Was Kurt only a prototype? He couldn't be that selfish. That would be too egoistic and sick.

"I don't think that Burt was the one who did that," Artie said.

"What do you mean? Didn't you just say that the person who programed him was probably the one who infected him with the malware?" Penny asked, not really following the boy's line of thought.

"Well, if Burt, like you said, was just a mechanic, I don't think he would be able to build Kurt alone. Sure, there is someone besides him that paid for all of this. But between Burt and this Mr. Mysterious sponsor, that certainly spent a lot of money, like enough money to buy the entire city. I think that there were more people involved, possibly a team of people."

"Why don't you think Burt would be able to build Kurt alone?" Penny asked.

"Well, I'm not saying that he wouldn't be able to. There's a small chance that Burt was some kind of ultimate genius, able to do all of this alone. But if, as you said, he treated Kurt like a son, I don't see why he would have infected his own son with a malware. I also think that it is very unlikely that a project as big, expensive, and ambitious as Kurt would be result of the work of a single person."

"So, specifically the person who made his programming was the person who infected him," Walter concluded.

"I think so. I found a security bug in his system," the young hacker said, looking at the confused expressions on the two federal agents in front of him "It's like a flaw, an error that allowed this malware to work in the first place," he explained.

"And you think that Kurt's programmer purposely committed this mistake..." Walter trailed off.

"So that he or she could infect Kurt with this malware whenever and however they want," Penny murmured, her eyes wide. Someone out there was trying to get rid of Kurt, someone who had been involved in the creation of him.

"But how did this person infect him?" Walter asked.

"Well, as with any other android, Kurt probably needs some maintenance from time to time. You know, to fix anything that isn't working well, to upgrade his system. The programmer probably used one of those occasions to install the malware," Artie explained.

"Oh my god…" Penny mumbled, covering her mouth. This case was much bigger and more complicated than she had thought.

"Burt is dead and Kurt was infected with a virus that would shut him down. In my opinion there is someone out there desperately trying to erase the evidence that can connect him or her to Kurt's project," Artie said, sounding worried. Whoever this person was, he or she was extremely dangerous and cold hearted. Only a very cruel and cold person would be willing to shut down an android like Kurt. A robot who believed so much in his own humanity that he was capable of convincing Walter Anderson, the most straightforward FDCT agent, of all people, that he was a human. This programmer was dangerous. Really dangerous.

"Well, this is a lot of new information to digest," Walter murmured.

"Do you think you can handle more information?" Artie asked.

"I guess..." the federal agent murmured, running his fingers through his curly hair "Why? Did you discover more?"

"Well, not yet, but I want run some tests so we can understand how Kurt's body works," Artie answered. First, they needed to understand how Kurt worked in order to be able to understand who had built him.

"Really? Well, can you explain why he was turning cold earlier?" Penny asked.

"Of course I can. He was turning cold because the malware was stopping his security programs that seem to be related to the programs controlling his secondary functions, such as body heat."

"Why?" Walter inquired.

"Making his security programs related to the ones that control his secondary functions was a defense mechanism. If Kurt's secondary functions suddenly stopped working, his creator would be able to tell that there was a threat attacking. That was why he was cold, the warmth of his body is obviously a secondary function."

"So body temperature isn't necessary for Kurt?" Walter asked the young hacker.

"Body temperature is important to us; we're poor creatures, dependent on enzymes. But Kurt doesn't have enzymes. He doesn't even have a DNA code. Body temperature is an addition that his creator gave him to make him look and feel more human. Just like the blood that flowed when I cut him, he doesn't have blood circulation. That was fake," Artie elucidated before asking Walter to place Kurt in the weird machine that greatly resembled an MRI machine.

"Don't those machines use electromagnetic fields? You are sure that you won't burn Kurt's system by putting him in one of those?" Walter inquired, worried as he lifted the android in his arms.

"This isn't a MRI, Walter. It looks like one, and allows us to see inside of things like one, but doesn't use an electromagnetic field, so don't worry, nobody here will be having their system burned. Trust me," Artie assured them, but seeing Walter's hesitation the boy spoke again.

"Just put him in the machine! Or do you prefer that I cut Kurt to see what is inside of him?" he asked, positioning himself beside the machine and ready to turn it on.

"Alright, alright," Walter agreed, a little reluctantly, laying Kurt inside of the machine and positioning him carefully.

"This is amazing," Artie murmured as the machine began to work. Soon, detailed images of Kurt's internal structures began to show up on the screen in front of him.

"What do you see?" Penny asked, standing beside Artie.

"The most perfect machine I have ever seen in my life," Artie said reverently. It was truly moving for him see such a perfect robot.

"So, what you can tell us about him?" Walter asked, crossing his arms in an imposing way.

"Well, I can tell you that he doesn't have organs," Artie said without taking his eyes of the screen in front of him.

"So how does he eat and breathe then?" Walter inquired.

"He doesn't have organs, organs. He has an endoskeleton made of a very light material. I can't precisely tell you which material it's made out of without a proper sample of it, but I think it's some kind of metal. And he eats and breathes because his creator made a simplified digestive system for Kurt and a pair of artificial lungs as well. But Kurt doesn't need to eat or breathe. He doesn't need oxygen or nutrients obtained from food. Burt only built these mechanical systems to give Kurt more humanity. How would he have convinced Kurt that he was human if Kurt wasn't able to eat or breathe? Those are the most essential human needs."

"What covers this endoskeleton, then? And how does he obtain energy?" Penny inquired."The endoskeleton functions, including its CPU, are powered by a shielded nuclear power cell that is located within the 'heart' of the chest cavity," Artie explained.

"A nuclear power cell!?'' Walter gasped. How the hell would Burt have had access to such a thing?

"Yes, a nuclear power cell. But don't worry. Kurt isn't going to explode or anything. Most of the industrial robots are powered by similar power cells. It is completely safe and is no more carcinogenic than your cell phone."

"Cell phones are carcinogenic?" Penny asked, gasping.

"If you spend hours exchanging messages or surfing the internet on your phone, believe me, you don't want to know the answer to that question," Artie assured the young girl, making her reconsider some of her habits.

"And the flesh covering Kurt's body. Is it made of silicon, or something like that?" Walter asked.

"Silicon? No, it is silicon based. But I need to take more tests to discover the other components of the tissues that cover his endoskeleton. I know that all of them are composed and structured in different ways, by different types of elastic polymers, just like our tissues are formed by different types of cells with specific characteristics and purposes. That is why he seems and feels so realistic. And I'm pretty sure that Kurt is capable of feeling physical pain, which won't be a good thing when he wakes up and feels the cut I made in his neck."

"How are you going to fix that?" Walter inquired.

"Conveniently, the tissues of that region appear to be wieldable so I will weld the tissues and disconnect the sensors that would allow him to feel pain in that specific area. He will lose some of the sensibility there, but for now, that is all I can do," Artie said.

"Sensors?" Penny asked.

"Yes, he seems to have an artificial nervous system. See?" Artie said, pointing to an almost imperceptible web that spread throughout all of Kurt's body.

"His nervous system seems to be an almost perfect replica of a human nervous system. Like our nervous system, he also has a web of nerves and sensors capable of sensing every kind of external stimulus and all of that is connected to his center of processing, that I have to say is almost as impressive as a human brain. Well, at least to a Sci-Fi freak like me…"

"Wow, he's almost human…" Penny murmured, amazed.

"Can he… you know?" Walter asked, flushing as he did a little prayer to God, hoping Artie

understood what he meant.

"Walter, you pervert! Asking such naughty things!" Artie hissed, faking a shocked tone in his voice as he mocked the middle aged agent.

"But can Kurt… You know…" Penny asked curiously, doing a little mimic to illustrate her question.

"I seriously didn't understand your little gesture, Penny, which seemed a bit disturbing, but if you're asking me if Kurt can have sex, yes, of course he can have sex! And c'mon guys, we're all adults here. We can say the world sex. See? Sex! It's not that hard," Artie mocked at the sight of Penny and Walter blushing crimson red.

"Seriously? Are you sure? He doesn't have any blood circulation…" Penny inquired, still astonished.

"Yes, Penny, I'm sure. Of course, he isn't fertile or anything, but Kurt is perfectly capable of having a sex life. Please guys. Robots were used for sexual satisfaction before the anti-humanization laws. And they didn't have blood-circulation. People would actually leave their husbands and wives to lock themselves in rooms with those machines. If those antiquated robots were able to satisfy their owners, with all their flaws and all that silicon, do you really think that an android as perfect and fleshy as Kurt would be incapable of sexual intercourse?"

"I really don't know how to deal with this information," Walter muttered, looking dazed.

"Well, buy him some condoms and give him a little sex talk," Artie said, clearly terrifying Walter with his suggestion.

"W-what?" the older man gasped. He hadn't even given his son a sex talk, how would he give Kurt one?

"Don't worry Walter. I'll buy the condoms and give him the talk," Penny assured the stunned agent, trying to sound responsible and tranquilize her partner. But that just made Walter even more petrified.

Penny giving someone a sex talk? Penny was the sweet, innocent girl who had bangs and puppy eyes! What kind of advice could she possibly give?

"Can we drop the subject? I have mental images in my head that will never allow me to sleep peacefully again," Walter said as he shook his head, trying to get rid of all of those thoughts.

"You're the one who asked," Artie laughed.

"Well, is there anything else you want to know?" the young hacker asked, saving Kurt's information in his computer. He had a lot to study later.

"No, no, I think that's all for now," Walter told him, taking Kurt out of the machine.

"Can we take him home now?" Penny asked as Artie continued to type numbers and statistics on his computer.

"I think so. But don't you think it is best for him to spend the night here? You know, just for precautionary measures?" Artie offered, not taking his eyes off of the computer screen.

"We aren't going to leave him alone," Walter said. When Kurt would wake up, he would want explanations. He would need someone he knew at his side.

"You two can stay if you want, it's late already and I have some old air beds you can use," Artie offered, finally turning his attention to the two agents standing in front to him. "And there is another Star Wars marathon about to start. You know, I wouldn't mind some company, and we can discuss how we are going to solve Kurt's case during the commercials."

"Wait a minute… We?" Walter repeated. Was Artie thinking that he was going to help them in the investigation? There were too many people involved already, and Walter didn't want have to deal with a nerdy hacker with an extensive criminal record messing with his investigation.

"Duh, of course. Or did you really think you could bring to me the most amazing robot ever and expect me to not wonder how he was built?" Artie asked, rolling his eyes.

"Things will never be the way I want them to be, will they?" Walter asked, hopelessly sighing to his partner as he laid Kurt down on the couch.

"Nope. Never," Penny assured him, chuckling and giving Artie a hi-five. After all, the boy had just become a new ally in their quest.


	10. One may think we're alright

Kurt awoke to sunlight shining across his face. He slowly opened his eyes to a poster of Darth Vader staring at him, which was unexpected to say the least. Kurt's eyebrows snapped together in a frown. Surely he was imagining things. He closed his eyes, trying to convince himself it was only a dream and that he was in his old bedroom with his own perfect decorations and Burt making noises downstairs.

It would be so much easier and much less painful if all that had happened had just been a nightmare, one of those weird ones where everything feels so damn real. But when the android opened his eyes again, he was still lying on a couch in an unfamiliar living room, with a creepy Darth Vader poster still staring at him.

Kurt sighed. He pushed away the comforter that was tucked around his chin and tried to stand up, but he felt dizzy and weak. As soon he tried to pull himself up, he was falling back down again. What was he going to do? Call Walter and Penny? That seemed like the best idea; they were probably the ones who had brought him here, wherever this place was. The last memory he had was of a strange coldness taking over his body, turning everything into a confused blur. He vaguely remembered hazel eyes filled with fear and anxiety as someone held him close, giving him warmth. For a second Blaine filled his mind, but Kurt shook his head. No. Blaine wouldn't look at him like that; the eyes were probably Walter's, he concluded. After all, Walter did have hazel eyes. And besides, Blaine probably didn't care about Kurt or what happened to him.

"Hey, you're up!" an unfamiliar male voice said, startling Kurt and causing him to look around. A boy in a wheelchair with light brown hair, huge glasses and a goofy grin on his face approached him, making the android frown again in confusion. Who the hell was this guy?

"D-Do I know you?" Kurt asked, his voice sounding a little husky.

"We haven't been properly introduced yet," the strange boy smiled, raising his right hand towards Kurt. "My name is Artie, also known as A. Abrams, hacker extraordinaire. You, uh, you've probably heard of me since I'm the country's top hacker…" Artie trailed off, a hint of pride detectable in his voice. Kurt raised an eyebrow. He wasn't exactly sure what he might have pictured as the best hacker in the country. Artie looked so young and naïve, with his perfectly brushed hair and his sweater buttoned up to the last button, as if his mother still dressed him.

Artie sighed. "I was the one who fixed you."

"Oh," Kurt gasped, astonished. Fixed him? He never thought he would hear that he had been fixed like a thing; like a toaster would. A soft sigh escaped his lips and he felt a stinging in his chest. What exactly had he been expecting? To be healed? To be taken to a hospital? He wasn't human. He would never be healed; he would always be fixed or repaired.

"Um, t-thank you, Artie," Kurt said as he finally managed to sit up. It wasn't Artie's fault Kurt was what he was, and having another breakdown wouldn't do any good. So he held back his tears and swallowed the lump in his throat. There wasn't time to be weak.

"Where am I?" Kurt asked, looking around. The place wasn't big, but it was far more organized and much cleaner than Walter's place. There were movie posters everywhere, most of them of sci-fi and classic movies.

"This is my awesome apartment," Artie said smugly, making Kurt chuckle. "C'mon, it is awesome! I mean, look at that! I have a life size Storm Trooper!" He pointed to the huge action figure standing in the corner. "How many people have actual life size Storm Troopers in their living room!?"

Kurt nodded. "I guess you have a point."

"Of course I have a point. Any argument you could have come up with would be invalid due to the fact that I have a six foot tall Storm trooper," Artie laughed. "Anyway, Walter and Penny brought you here yesterday."

"Where are they, Walter and Penny?" Kurt asked as he closed his eyes and massaged his temples, feeling the beginnings of a killer headache coming on.

"They're in the kitchen making coffee. Apparently, Walter has some kind of addiction to caffeine," Artie said, noticing the obvious discomfort in Kurt's facial features. "Your head is killing you, isn't it?"

The android nodded, burying his face in his palms, wondering if that was what a hangover felt like. As though his brain was a sheet of paper being crumpled up and then torn apart into tiny little pieces.

"It's normal after all your system has been through," the hacker explained.

Kurt looked confused. "What you mean?"

Artie bit his lower lip. It was better to call Walter and Penny in for this conversation. Kurt would need familiar faces around him when they told him that not only had someone infected him with a malware, but that person was also involved in his creation.

"I am going to get some painkillers for you," Artie said, knowing that they wouldn't help Kurt's headache but needing an excuse to escape his questions. "And I'll call Walter and Penny so that they can explain what happened, okay?"

"O-okay." Kurt murmured, noticing the way Artie was obviously making an excuse to not explain what had happened to him. The android felt a sudden twinge in his chest and that bad feeling only grew as Artie left the living room. What had happened to him? Could he be dying or something?

Kurt held back tears as dark thoughts filled his mind, like the memory of his dad's lifeless body falling to the ground. Would that be his destiny? And if it was, would Kurt leave anyone behind to cry over losing him?

The boy chewed his lower lip, wiping at the tears burning his eyes before curling up under the comforter again.

God, why couldn't this just be a nightmare?

************

Blaine opened his eyes. His head was killing him and he was in a room that was clearly not his own. The walls were purple with Hole lyrics written in bold letters all over them. He turned his head in confusion until soft pink hair brushed against his cheek. He glanced down and saw Quinn in her gray PJ's staring at him with drowsy eyes.

"Morning," she whispered, her voice smothered by the covers over her as she tried to hide from the cold air.

"Morning," Blaine murmured, yawning. He pushed himself up, running his fingers through his tangled curls as he tried to remember what had happened the night before. "Damn it," he cursed under his breath. What had he done? Did he have a fucking emotional breakdown in front of everybody like some sort of lunatic?

"Ready to go home?" Quinn asked, rubbing her eyes and stretching herself like a cat.

Blaine raised one of his triangular eyebrows and looked at his best friend in surprise. What happened to 'hey, are you okay' or 'what the hell was wrong with you last night?' Were they going to skip right to the 'get out of my house' part? Not even an offer of a cup of coffee or some pancakes?

"Kicking me out already, Fabray?" he asked, placing his hands dramatically above his heart and faking a hurt tone. Well, partially faking, anyway. He really didn't want to go home. "No breakfast or anything?"

"You want eat breakfast here? Really? With my lovely mom?" Quinn scoffed. She could already picture how well that would go. Her mother staring at Blaine accusingly the whole time, as though he were the bad influence that made her perfect little cheerleader turn into a lost grunge girl. Because obviously the years Quinn suffered through the pressure to be perfect, all because her mother had never managed to be perfect, had nothing to do with the fact that she had turned into an angry and self-destructive teen. Her mother would certainly bring Cooper to the conversation, not missing a chance to sigh dramatically about how great he had been. Or she would ramble on about how she loved to put forth 'an example that Blaine and Quinn should follow.'

"How about grabbing coffee from the Lima Bean then?" Blaine suggested, sitting on the edge of the bed and putting his shoes on. Quinn was right; breakfast with Mrs. Fabray wasn't an appealing idea at all. But then on the other hand, going home didn't seem like the greatest option, either. At least not for now. He still needed a little more time to bury his feelings under his ruthless, self-destructive façade so he could regain control over his emotions. So the Lima Bean would suit him just fine.

"Let me guess… I'm the one that will pay for the coffees, right?" Quinn mocked, standing up and opening her closet to look for something to wear.

"Unless the barista is cute and gay, in which case I can pay for our coffees with my body" Blaine mocked in return, earning a sparkling laugh from his best friend.

"Let's pray for a cute barista, then, because I'm totally broke!" she stated, throwing a shirt at her best friend.

Quinn was relived. Blaine seemed better today. She knew he wasn't, actually, that he still was fucked up, but at least he seem to be in control of his emotions again. And at the end of the day, for people like them, that was what mattered. To be in control. Besides, they were fucked up regardless of whether they were screaming or having emotional breaking downs, weren't they? And the reasons why they were so fucked up wasn't even their own faults. So all that was left for them was to try their best to be in control, burying their pain and darkness deep down inside of their chests under the façades and masks they wore daily. And that usually worked for them; hiding, running, escaping their families and problems. It probably wasn't exactly what would be called healthy, but for the most part it prevented incidents such as Blaine's outburst the night before.

"So, are we good?" Quinn asked, finally selecting a red flannel shirt that would look amazing held on by safety pins and worn with a short leather skirt and her torn fishnets.

"In control," Blaine replied as though he had read her mind. Quinn half smiled at that, hoping whatever news waiting for Blaine when he got home didn't ruin it.

************

Penny was already scooping eggs onto plates when Artie entered the kitchen. She glanced over at him, smiling as he slid through the kitchen door.

"Artie! I'm making us breakfast!" she announced with a wave of the spoon in her hand. Walter glanced at him and mumbled something close to 'morning' as he moved towards the coffee machine. It seemed Penny hadn't been lying when she said Walter couldn't function without caffeine.

"Guys, Kurt is up!" Artie announced, making Water almost let go of the coffee pot handle in surprise.

"Wait… what?" Walter gasped.

"Oh, my God, Kurt's up! Hurry, Walter, let's go talk to him!" Penny squealed, her eyes shining with excitement as she let go of her spoon, grabbing her partner's cup of black coffee out of his hands and tugging him towards the living room by his arm. "And hugs! Let's hug him, too, Walter!"

"Wait! Wait! Penny!" Walter protested, grabbing her left arm and stopping her. "Calm down, okay?"

"But Walter, Kurt's awake-" she whined.

"I know, I know, and believe me, I'm excited about it, too," he explained. "But what are we going to say to him?"

Penny frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Kurt is going to want to know what happened to him. We have to think about what we are going to tell him." Walter stated.

"Why don't we just tell him the truth?" Artie suggested.

"I don't think that is a good idea," Walter said, his expression tight. "He's already been through a lot in the past three days."

"But Walter, someone tried to kill him! There's someone after him! He needs to know!" Penny argued.

"Does he?" Walter shrugged. "He has already been through so much, and we are almost positive his dad was murdered. Do you really think he doesn't know that there are people after him?"

"But he has the right to know," Artie said.

"I am not saying we're never going to tell him the truth. But I don't think telling him right now that someone that helped build him also infected him with a malware will do him any good. Do you guys understand the ramifications of what this person did to him? His memories were changed. He doesn't even remember when this person infected him. How do you think this is going to make him feel? Knowing that his memories can be manipulated like that?" Walter questioned them.

"He will begin to doubt every memory he has," Penny murmured softly, finally understanding what Walter was trying to say.

"But most of his memories aren't real. If what you guys told me was true, and Burt really made Kurt believe he was human, he certainly implanted fake memories into Kurt's central of processing. Because he is a robot, he didn't have a childhood or anything like that," said Artie.

"Oh yeah? And are you willing to say that to Kurt, that most of his memories are probably fake? That most of what he thinks he remembers about his past is just part of programming? A program that can be so easily manipulated that he doesn't even remember the person who tried to kill him?"

"I didn't think about that." Artie murmured thoughtfully "But eventually he will find out all that."

"I know, I am just saying that we don't need to tell him now. C'mon guys, up until three days ago, he thought he was a normal boy."

"I still don't feel comfortable lying to him," Penny said indecisively, chewing her lower lip.

Walter placed his hand on the girl's shoulder. "Penny, Kurt still believes in his humanity, we can see that in his eyes! Even knowing he is a robot, he still sees himself as a boy. I just don't want to see him losing that. Not until we can try to prevent it."

"So, what are you suggesting? That we make up a story, saying he had some sort of a defect or something like that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and obviously still not fond of the idea.

"Exactly!"

"But what if he asks about his memories? One day he will begin to question that," Artie snorted.

"Well, when Kurt questions us about that, we will tell him the truth; that we suspect the memories of his early years were implanted in him, that they aren't real. We just don't need to bring the subject up now, while he is still mourning his dad's death."

"I think you're right," Penny murmured.

"Yes, Kurt will question that when he feels ready to hear the answers, when he needs them."

"Fine," Artie sighed. "Let's go talk to him then."

************

"Penny!" Kurt greeted as soon as the girl entered the living room. She ran towards him, wrapping him in a tight embrace.

"Kuuurt!" she squealed. "It's so good to see you awake!" She was obviousy relieved. Kurt was fine, he was there, safe and conscious in her arms.

"Penny! Penny, I need to breathe!" he laughed into her shoulder.

"Hey, kid," Walter smiled, arms crossed, a warm expression in his features. "It's good to see you better."

"Yes! It's good to see you awake!" Penny said before grabbing his face in her hands. "But you're sure you're okay, right? Are you in any pain or feeling cold?" she said in a rush, her brown eyes filled with concern. Kurt couldn't help but smile at that. Someone did care, after all. If something happened to him, he would leave behind people that would remember and miss him. That made him feel like less of a thing and more of a boy; it made him feel human again.

"I'm fine Penny, really," Kurt said, nodding as Penny looked at him doubtfully

"Really? You aren't lying to me, right? Because I am a Federal agent and I know how to tell when people are lying to me!" she hissed, trying to copy Walter's badass expression. But it became apparent that expression worked a lot better for her partner once Kurt began to giggle.

"Alright, I admit, my head is hurting a little." That was a lie; it wasn't hurting just a little. "But I am fine, I promise! Artie said it was normal to feel a headache."

Penny turned around "Is it really normal, Artie?" she asked, her arms still wrapped around Kurt as her mamma bear side was working in full mode.

"Yes Penny, it is normal," Artie sighed. "Now let go of Kurt, you are suffocating him."

"I am not!" she pouted "I am giving him tender love and care! Tell them, Kurtie! Tell them I'm not suffocating you!" Penny demanded, not letting go of him.

"You aren't," Kurt laughed. "But please don't call me Kurtie again."

"Alright, alright, I admit, Kurtie is a little too much," Penny chuckled, letting go of him and sitting beside him. "And don't feel bad if Walter is just staring at you over there, not hugging you like he should, believe me, he wants to," she whispered to Kurt as she looked at Walter playfully. "He's just too concerned about his grumpy reputation."

"Penny!" Walter blushed. "I-I'm happy you're better kid, don't listen to her."

"See? Deep down, he really is a sweetheart," Penny whispered dramatically, making Artie and Kurt laugh "As soft and sweet as a marshmallow."

"Y-you just didn't call me that," Walter said, gasping in mock outrage.

"She did," Artie laughed. "As sweet as a marshmallow," he repeated gleefully, receiving a dirty look from Walter.

"Alright, alright, now that we have established the fact Walter is actually a sweetie under his grumpy façade," Kurt teased. "Can you guys explain to me what happened? So I had some sort of episode or something like that?" he asked.

"Y-yes," Artie lied. "You had a defect in your programming that caused your system to stop functioning properly." What he was saying wasn't a complete lie. Kurt did have a flaw in his programming, a bug that allowed malware to infect him and work in his system. Artie was just omitting the fact that this flaw had been left in his system purposely by whoever had programmed him.

"Oh," Kurt murmured, absorbing that information "S-so, I was like, sick?"

"Yes, and Artie fixed you," Walter explained, hoping that Kurt would not ask any other questions. "He's the best hacker in the country, and he was truly amazing at fixing you last night."

"Thank you, Artie. I don't know why you helped me, but I am really grateful for what you did," Kurt said.

"You don't know why I helped you?" Artie gasped. "Kurt! You are a scientific miracle! You're amazing!" he said, grinning. "I know you are probably feeling bad after all that happened, but trust me, you being what you are only makes you more amazing. It doesn't make you any less human."

Kurt let a humorless laugh escape through his lips. "You just said that I had a flaw in my programming, Artie," he sighed. "Humans don't have programming."

"Hey! Don't talk about yourself like that; it's not a heartbeat or a DNA code that makes you human!" Artie said.

"Isn't it?" Kurt scoffed.

"No! Of course not! Look, there are many people out there, with heartbeats, genetic codes and all of that stuff, but none of them demonstrate the tiniest bit of humanity towards others. So in my opinion, there are a lot more things that define humanity than these biological indicators. There is something more, something that isn't solid or palpable-"

"So what are you saying? That I have a soul or something like that?" Kurt scoffed again, interrupting Artie's explanation.

"Are you capable of loving, Kurt Hummel? Have you ever loved someone?" Artie asked with a stern expression on his face.

Kurt nodded, biting his lower lip as tears ran down his face. Yes, he had already loved. He had loved his dad and he still did, even after discovering that Burt had lied to him. He still loved and missed his dad the most. Burt's kindness, his laugh and even his epically failed attempts at baking, he missed them all.

"Things, objects, aren't capable of loving," Artie murmured as he approached the android. "So if you are capable of love, Kurt, you are not a thing."

Kurt still seemed reluctant, and that drove Artie mad. He didn't even know Kurt very well, but God, anyone that looked at him at that moment, as he struggled with himself, could see that Kurt wasn't a soulless thing. After all, Kurt was dealing with one of the most human questions. He was trying to figure out who he was and where he belonged. Artie needed to do something.

"One of my best friends," Artie began, his voice thick, "the one that helped me to become independent, who taught me how to be a man... H-he was a machine, Kurt, a domestic model."

Kurt looked up at him, confused. "Really?" he murmured in disbelief. So there were others like him? He wasn't the only one?

"Yes! I am not saying that you are human just because you look like one, Kurt, because C-3PO didn't look human. He was built after the anti-humanizations laws. He wasn't fleshy or soft like you. He was cold, faceless, and gray. H-he was this huge robot that walked around making funny noises and that needed to be recharged at the end of the day!" Artie chuckled, eyes filling with tears as he remembered his friend. "But even without having a face to show expressions or a voice to say kind words, C-3PO still managed to demonstrate more kindness and caring towards me than any other person I have ever met. He was a true friend, because unlike other people, C-3PO didn't give me pity or sympathy. No! That piece of metal gave me strength! Support! He forced me to dress alone, to clean my own room. He didn't have eyes, Kurt, but he still managed to see me, the true me, not the boy that couldn't walk. So open your eyes, those huge blue eyes your dad gave you, and see what everyone else in this room sees when we look at you."

"W-what?" Kurt murmured in a small voice. "What do you guys see when you look at me?"

"A boy," Walter said, forcing the words to come out of his throat.

"My favorite boy," Penny smiled, tears streaming down her face. She pulled Kurt into another hug and the android immediately clutched at her. He needed comfort and warmth. All that Artie had said to him was echoing inside of his head, triggering all these confusing emotions inside of him. But Artie was right. Was it really a genetic code that made someone human? A heartbeat? How many people with all that revealed themselves instead as true monsters? Wouldn't it be the ability to love, then? Of being kind and compassionate? Shouldn't that be what defines humanity? Because Kurt was capable of love, and even after all he had been through, he also was capable of feeling loved and cared for. He needed it.

Screw all that biological crap! Kurt Hummel was human, and a fabulous one!

"Thanks, you guys are amazing," he said softly, disengaging himself from Penny's arms. Everyone was teary eyed, including Walter.

"Oh my God!" the boy gasped, noticing the normally stoic man wiping tears from his eyes. "Are you crying, Walter?" he asked, chuckling.

"Don't judge me, that scene was very fucking moving," Walter scoffed, looking away.

"See?" Penny chuckled "Sweet as a marshmallow," she whispered in Kurt's ear, making him laugh.

************

In a not-so-distant part of Lima, the sound of high heels echoed through the darkness that filled the Hummel's residence.

The bright yellow barrier tape saying CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS that had been taped to the front door remained intact as the female trespasser revealed herself to be careful and flexible enough to sneak into the house without ripping it.

She looked around Burt's living room, sighing heavily. The place was practically empty; other than some picture frames still hanging on the walls, everything else seemed to have been packed. Yellow adhesives with numbers were also glued all over the place, pointing to possible evidence.

"Dammit," she grunted, pressing her lips into a thin line. She didn't know what to do. Her plan might have worked, but she didn't know how to be 100% sure and that wasn't a risk that she was up to, not after all she had been through. Damn.

She took her cell phone from her black jacket, being forced to type a number that she had once promised herself she wouldn't ever call again.

_"What the hell do you want? You know you can't call me. I already told you, I am out! I am not part of the-"_

"We have a problem," the woman breathed, interrupting her ex-coworker's rushed words as she pushed Burt's lab door open.

_"W-what happened?" the voice on the phone spoke seconds later, obviously worried._

"Burt is dead," the woman said, massaging her temples as she heard the person on the other side of the line gasp. She walked around the place, glaring at those familiar walls and benches until her eyes fixated themselves on the white outlines on the floor, indicating where Burt's body had been found. Shivers ran down her spine. The woman's mind drifted away for a second, to the past, remembering how all of it had started. They all used to be four brilliant minds, and now two of them were gone, leaving behind white outlines and crime scenes.

_"And the Metempsychosis Project? "_ the voice on the other side of the line inquired, bringing the woman back from her thoughts.

"Missing," she answered dryly, leaving the lab and entering the living room again.

_"What are we going to do now?"_

"We are going to destroy all evidence than can connect us to the project," the woman answered, without even a second of hesitation.

_"W-what you mean, we destroy all the evidence?"_

"Exactly what you understood, dear," the woman murmured, sending shivers down the spine of the person on the other side of the line. "We are going destroy all of the evidence." she assured the person, fixing her brown eyes on one of the picture frames hanging on the wall.

The next morning, none of the FDTC agents who were packing up the evidence noticed that there was a picture of a certain pale and blue eyed boy missing from one of the picture frames.


	11. A fulfilled promised, odd behaviors and a sleepless night

"Bye, Artie!" Penny screamed, opening the window of Walter's car as her partner started the engine.

"Bye, Penny!" Artie waved. "I'll call later if I discover anything new!"

The hacker had a lot of work to do. He made a list of all the hackers he knew who were capable of hacking Androids and would investigate them, one by one; trying to find out if they had been involved in Kurt's creation. And there were also samples of the android's tissues and endoskeleton waiting to be analyzed and catalogued. Hell, Artie hadn't ever had this much work waiting for him since the last time he hacked Avalon Industries', and to do that had required months of sleep deprivation and a diet that consisted basically of red vines and coffee.

Okay, Artie definitely needed to make some calls, his red vines suppler needed to know that he was working on a new project.

And even if Penny and Walter weren't exactly planning on implementing Artie's endless journey through work or his red vine based diet, they also had a lot of work waiting for them. Earlier that day, Josh Davis, the legist responsible for Burt's necropsy, sent a message to Walter's cell phone asking to him come to the morgue soon as possible. And with everything that had happened, they also hadn't finished the analysis of the evidence collected in Burt's house yet. So there was evidence to be organized, reports to be written, but above all that, there were questions to be asked, especially for Kurt. Walter needed some answers from him. He needed to know the if Burt's behavior had changed in his last few days of life, if his dad had seemed anxious, threatened, as if someone had contacted him, and also the reason why the android had said Der Kleine Prinz when they had asked him his access code.

"So Kurt, when you were sick…" Walter cleared his throat, "Artie needed your system's access code-"

"Access code?" the android frowned. Walter nodded. "And I told you guys my access code?" He asked, unbelievably. How was that even possible? He didn't even know he was a robot until four days ago, how could he have given Walter an access code to his system?

"Well, you didn't give us your access code, but you gave us something that helped us figure out your access code. You said, "Der Kleine Prinz", which means-"

"The Little Prince in German," Kurt interrupted him.

"Yes, can you explain why you said that when we asked for your access code? When I asked you what was important enough for your dad to have made the access code, you said Der Kleine Prinz."

Kurt bit his lip, looking down. "Almost a year ago, a man came to visit my dad…"

"A man?" Penny interrupted.

"Yes, his name was Günther, he wasn't American though, I-I think he was German. He showed up in the middle of night, it was raining and he was completely soaked, but my dad still hugged him, very moved by this guy's visit, as if this man was his oldest and dearest friend. He introduced him to me as an old collaborator. My dad always told me he worked designing industrials robots…" Kurt explained. Burt used to spend hours locked in his lab with the excuse that he was developing improvements for industrial robots, when in reality he was working on upgrades for his son's system.

"So you dad told you that Günther was a coworker?" Walter asked and Kurt nodded. "They locked themselves in dad's lab for hours, I tried to hear their conversation but they weren't talking English. I-I didn't even know my dad could speak German…" Kurt took a deep breath, he felt like an idiot for not have questioned anything, for have been fooled so easily. "Anyways, this Günther guy, he seemed really scared and anxious… He constantly looked at his cell phone and every time he entered a room you could see how his eyes scanned the whole place as if he was always making sure there was an easy escape-"

"So you think he was running from something?" Penny asked.

"Maybe… I-I don't know, he didn't look like a bad guy, he just seem scared, really scared. And when he was saying farewell, he gave me this book, the German version of "The Little Prince", Der Kleine Prinz and said that if I ever needed answers, this book would help me…"

Penny gasped "Did you ever read this book? Was there anything strange or unusual in it or anything like that?"

"I don't think so. I never really paid attention to that book. It was in German and I didn't know German. My dad said he would teach me so I could read it, but as time passed and he ended forgetting, and so did I…" Kurt trailed off. Now he regretted not having paid more attention to that book, but how the hell was he supposed to know it could have been an important piece to solve the puzzle of his origins? That isn't exactly something you consider when someone gives you a book. And honestly, when the man had told him to look for answers in the book, he thought that Günther was talking about all the philosophic questions present in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's work.

"We are so going to get our hands on this book tomorrow," Penny said, already planning how they were going to steal the book from the FDTC evidences' deposit. Well Bob, the Deposit's janitor, had always had this little crush on her…

"Can you describe this man? Do you remember his last name, if he had a birth mark, a tattoo, or anything else that can help us find him?" Walter asked, his Homicide detective side already kicking in. They had their first suspect, a man, who was apparently German and also Burt's friend and who was obviously involved in Kurt's building. There was no way that it was only a coincidence that this Günther guy gave Kurt a book whose first edition came out in 1943, which was his access code.

"Like I said, he had this really strong accent, I think he was German…" Kurt forced himself to remember the man's features "He was white, really tall, blue eyed, his hair was long and strawberry blond, he had this scar in his left cheek… And he wore glasses! Big glasses…"

"And what was his surname?" Penny asked, taking notes on the small purple notebook she always carried around.

"I don't remember. I don't think my dad told me his last name when he introduced us…I-" He tried to evoke more details about the man, something useful, anything, when unexpectedly he felt a shooting pain in his head. Kurt closed his eyes, whining with the sudden pain, feeling dizzy.

"Kurt! What's wrong?" He heard Penny call, worried before she began to scream to Walter to stop the car.

The android shook his head. "No, no, no, there is no need. It's just a headache…" The android murmured.

"Kurt if you want, we can go back to Artie's," Walter offered.

"No, I'm fine," Kurt said massaging, his temples "There's no need to stop the car or go back to Artie's, it was just a headache. I swear." He lied. It wasn't just a headache, it was a hell of a headache, but fortunately it was already fading away "So Günther, he-"

"Kurt, stop." Walter interrupted him. "You are going to rest so you can recover. okay? We can talk about Günther later." he said and Penny smiled at him, silently thanking Walter for not pushing the subject in respect of Kurt's recovery.

The android was still fragile and even if Walter's Homicide detective side was already kicking in again, unlike what had already happened in the past, this time the federal agent wouldn't let the case become bigger than its victim. And the biggest victim was Kurt. The boy had been fooled, had had his memories changed and had almost died in a failed attempt to erase evidence of someone's participation in his building. The last four days had been nothing but chaotic for him, and he needed some time to recover his strength, some rest before Walter put him through an interrogation.

"Are you sure you don't want us to take you back to Artie's?" Penny asked Kurt.

"Yes, I'm sure," He said and shrugged but the ginger woman gave him and unbelieving look. "I'm fine, Penny really… My headache is already fading away." he insisted.

"Alright then, but if you feel cold again please let us know right away." Walter enforced, looking at Kurt's eyes through the rearview mirror.

"Guys, I swear I'm fine. I just need some rest." Kurt assured them. His headache was really fading away and yes, he still felt a little weak and he was a little paler than usual, but he knew that as soon as he'd take a nice shower and sleep for a while he would be as good as new.

"We believe you, but please if you feel sick, don't hide it from us." Walter pleaded. He really cared about Kurt. He couldn't explain why he just felt so responsible for that boy.

He couldn't bring himself to care about the fact that he was risking everything, his job, his freedom, his own life, only to help Kurt. This strong and extremely fashionable android that had entered Walter's life in the most unimaginable way was turning everything upside down, putting in check everything the federal agent believed in, and was forcing Walter do things he never had even considered doing, like becoming allies with A. Abrams or watching a Star Wars marathon sitting on a hacker's couch, discussing a case with him.

The way Walter was feeling was kind of ironic. He felt like he was doing the first right thing in years, because by the eyes of the law, what he was doing was wrong and undeniably illegal. But honestly, Walter had given up counting how many laws he had broken when he invaded the apartment of A. Abrams, the biggest hacker in the country, carrying Kurt, the most advanced android in existence in his arms and trying to find a way to get him fixed.

After that it seemed kind of pointless to take note of all the illegal technology he had seen or how many partnership norms he had disrespected by allowing Penny to sleep curled up at his side, using his shoulder as a pillow, because apparently while she was asleep, the ginger woman didn't quite understand the concept of personal space or inappropriate closeness. Anyways, the point was, even after the laws and rules Walter had transgressed in the past four days, he still couldn't help but feel that for the first time since the birth of his sons, he was part of something good, something bigger than his damn position as a man of the law. He was saving a boy's life, shouldn't be that more important than some stupid federal decrees?

"You know who is going to be really happy to see you?" Walter asked Kurt, his eyes fixed on the road.

The android opened his month to answer, but then he closed it again. He tried to think of someone, but besides Walter, Penny and now Artie, he couldn't think of anyone who would care about his welfare. So he gave up. "I can't think of anyone," he said in a small voice, a pang of sadness perceptible in his words.

"What about Blaine?" Walter offered "He will be thrilled to see you well!"

Kurt furrowed his eyebrows together. Was Walter high on coffee or something like that? "Are we talking about Blaine Anderson? Your son? The one who always wears that leather jacket and who refers to me as "the Ice queen"?" He asked unbelievably.

Blaine didn't like him. He didn't give a damn about Kurt. He would probably be glad to have the room to himself, Kurt thought sulkily, but the thought soon dissipated as he noticed how bitter and unfair he sounded. No one was so cold hearted to the point of feeling happy about another's person distress because of a room, not even Blaine with his whole "this bed is mine, touch it and you die," attitude.

"You know, he was really worried about you. He was the one who took care of you and kept you warm until Walter and I took you to Artie," Penny said, making Kurt's features assume a shocked expression, his mouth falling in a perfect "o" shape. What was Penny talking about? He remembered someone holding him, someone with hazel eyes, but he had thought it was Walter. He would be lying if he said he didn't consider, for less than a fraction of a second, that the owner of those hazel eyes was Blaine, but he had been dizzy and feeling weak. He hadn't been in his right mind, and soon he had pushed those thoughts away. Such attitude didn't match the image he had already made of Walter's son. Actually, it didn't match the image that Blaine himself had insisted on maintaining.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked and Penny nodded. "Yep, he held you the whole time." she said matter-of-factly.

Kurt chewed on his lower lip. Penny and Walter kept talking. The ginger girl asked if her partner could stop by a convenience store before dropping her off home because she needed to buy more green tea. When he said no, she looked at Kurt and asked him to help her convince Walter about the importance of the green tea, but the android wasn't paying attention to their conversation as he was too absorbed in his own thoughts.

He felt confused. He may have been wrong about Blaine. There was the possibility that the boy wasn't the jerk Kurt thought he was. And knowing that caused all these unsettling feelings inside the android's chest. Kurt still couldn't quite figure out if how that information would change the way he felt about Blaine.

And now as he was stopping and thinking about it he couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows together again.

Because, _wow, when did he begin to feel something in the first place?_

 

**

**************************

**

"You don't want me to go upstairs with you?" Quinn asked as Blaine got out of her car.

"No, I'm fine. You can go home," Blaine murmured, as he closed the door and offered Quinn, what could only be called an attempt at, a reassuring smile, (and a not very effective one).

"Are you sure?" Quinn asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." he answered and Quinn gave him another unbelieving glare. "I'm fine I swear!" Blaine lied. He wasn't fine, he was far from it. His stomach was burning with anxiousness, his heart felt tight inside his chest and his hands were sweating and cold. Blaine was nervous and afraid of what he would find when he got home and of how much it would affect him.

"I know you want to go see Puck, so just go already," he scoffed.

"Blaine, you know that you don't need to face whatever is waiting for you in that apartment alone, right?" Quinn wouldn't push him; it was Blaine's decision, if he thought he could face Walter alone, she would give him space. "Let me know what happens, okay? Call me, text me, send me a smoke signal, I don't care how, just let me know how you're doing."

"And disturb your hot date with Puckerman? I don't think so," Blaine sneered, receiving a harsh glare from Quinn. She pressed her red lips in a thin line, clearly annoyed by his comment.

"You're an asshole," She retorted, starting the engine of her car. "But still, don't forget to call me!"

"Alright, alright," He nodded. "And tell Puckerman I said hi!"

She gave him another dirty look before turning on her radio. Pearl Jam's Better Man began to play in the maximum volume. Blaine couldn't help but frown a little at the irony of that specific song beginning to play at the exact moment Quinn left to go see Puck, but he didn't say anything as his best friend drove away.

Blaine opened the door of Walter's apartment, immediately smelling fresh tortillas. He closed the door, his triangular eyebrows furrowed together. Walter was cooking? The radio was on and Robert Plant's voice echoed throughout the apartment as his dad sang along to Stairway to Heaven. Okay….What the hell was happening here? Walter wasn't only cooking, but singing? Blaine dropped his keys on the coffee table and called for Walter, but his father didn't hear him because the music was too loud.

Blaine's first impulse was to run into the kitchen, ask how Kurt was, what had happened, but he hesitated, his feet seeming glued to the ground.

His dad was singing and cooking, and more than anything Blaine wanted to believe that that was a sign that everything was fine and that Kurt was okay. But no matter how much evidence pointed towards the best, it was still hard for Blaine move his legs, to go to the kitchen and confront Walter.

He had lost his faith in his father a long time ago. And his brain was already coming up with all kinds of theories. After all, he didn't know how his father coped with loss. His dad didn't stick around long enough after Cooper's death for Blaine to be able to tell how his father mourned. Maybe cooking and listening to classic rock was his dad's way of feeling better. It could be, right? Well, not really, but still, It was just one or two promises Walter hadn't fulfilled, were ten years of empty promises, ten of absence. Blaine was just so used to disappointment, that even when everything indicated that Walter had finally fulfilled one of his promises it was still easier for him to came up with theories about Walter's mourning than allow himself to trust his dad again.

He took a deep breath. "Stop being such a pussy about this Anderson," He murmured to himself, forcing his legs to move. Everything was okay. Walter was singing and cooking. He shouldn't be so worked up about this. He had spent the whole afternoon regaining control of all the mess inside of his chest, burying deeply all the feelings and memories that the alcohol had unchained inside of him the previous night.

Blaine finally walked into the kitchen. "Walter," He called as soon as he reached the doorstep of the kitchen.

Walter turned around and smiled at him. And suddenly Blaine felt the corners of his own lips involuntarily lift a little in response. Walter was smiling at him, he was smiling, holding a spoon and wearing a damn apron, and Blaine had never thought that the first time his dad would do anything for him in ten years, he would be dressed like that, but there he was, wearing a fucking baby blue apron, smiling at him, silently assuring him that he hadn't screwed up things up this time, that he had finally-finally- fulfilled one of his promises. And damn it, was hard for Blaine contain himself and not grin goofily, like he used to do when his father would read him a bedtime story or throw him in the air only to catch him and promise he would never let Blaine fall.

A warm feeling spread through the boy's chest, a warm and conflicting feeling. It had been so long since the last time he had looked at Walter and allowed himself to see this man as his father. Blaine still didn't know if he was going to able to hold on to that feeling, to keep seeing his dad in that way, but at least for now, for a moment or two, Blaine allowed himself to love his dad again.

"Where's-"

"Resting," Walter said, interrupting his son.

Blaine looked at Walter, feeling like he should say something, do something, maybe walk the empty distance separating them and hug Walter.

But he didn't, Blaine remained motionless, hands buried in his pockets. He just couldn't bring himself to do such a thing. A demonstration of affection such as that towards Walter still seemed like a concept too foreign for Blaine. What he was allowing himself to feel towards his dad, that affection, that warmth, was still not even near strong enough to break the invisible walls separating them.

Walter noticed Blaine's hesitation. He saw the way his son was struggling to not smile or show affection towards him. And that caused a small twinge in his chest, but he knew his son was only trying to protect himself from future disappointment. Walter couldn't just expect Blaine to forget all his past mistakes and just go back to be the lovely little boy he had once been just because of one fulfilled promise. Sure it was a hell of a promise; bringing Kurt back, but still, it was one fulfilled promise versus ten years of absence.

It wouldn't be that easy to win his son's trust and love again. It would be a long and probably hurtful process, but Walter was willing to give it a try. His son was worth it. Blaine may not behave as if he was, but to Walter, Blaine was everything but worthless.

"Go call Kurt and tell him that the tortillas are almost ready," Walter said, offering Blaine a way to get out of that situation. With time, he would regain his trust and one day Blaine would come to him without hesitation or doubts.

Blaine nodded, hands still in his pockets. He hadn't taken a single step further in Walter's direction and left the kitchen, but that didn't prevent the federal from feeling more closer to his son than he had in the past ten years.

When Blaine finally opened the door of the room, after certain difficulty, because that damn door just didn't cooperate at all, his eyes landed on Kurt who was sitting on his bed wearing gray pajamas. And God, he looked better, not 100% better, but at least he didn't look like a victim of hypothermia, blue and unconscious, like the last time Blaine had seen him. Kurt looked healthier. The boy seemed slightly frustrated and looked as if he had just stepped out of the shower, which he probably had, since his hair was wet and the room was smelling like fresh soap.

"Hi," Blaine said, because he couldn't think of anything less monosyllabic.

"Hey," Kurt murmured the corners of mouth lifting a little, before he looked down at the bed he was sitting on and practically jump off of it as if it were on fire.

Blaine felt a little bad about that. "So …How are you?"

"I'm fine," Kurt murmured biting his lower lip. Blaine seemed different. His body language wasn't the same. It was almost as if he was timid around Kurt, all the cockiness that before appeared to be implied in every one of the boy's gestures now seemed to have been replaced by something else, something that Kurt couldn't quite put a finger on.

Maybe Penny wasn't lying to him when she said Blaine had taken care of him. Maybe there was something in Blaine beyond the leather jacket and the ruthless façade. Kurt cleaned his throat. "So uh…Penny said you were there for me and … took care of me. So I guess I should thank you?" he murmured, looking expectedly at Blaine.

Blaine looked at his shoes. Penny had said what? That he had taken care of him? Blaine didn't take care of him, he just, you know, held Kurt until Walter got home. No biggie. He was Blaine Anderson for God's sake! He didn't do anything for anyone…

Blaine snorted. "Don't get any wrong ideas, you handcuffed genius. I just kept you awake until they got home." And yes, after that, he had had an emotional breakdown, but Kurt didn't need to know that part, right? And besides, the emotional breakdown had nothing to do with Kurt. It had happened because of Cooper's death, Walter's abandonment and all the crap Blaine had been through in past ten years. Not because of Kurt. Not even the tiniest little bit.

"Oh," Kurt looked down. Of course Blaine wouldn't have taken care of him. He held you the whole time, Penny said, he will be thrilled to see you well, Walter had assured him. Yeah right. Because that was definitely something that Blaine freaking Anderson would do, hold him close and take care of him. "Well thank you anyway," he said in a small voice.

"What was wrong with you?" Blaine asked, rubbing the back of his neck, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. He didn't understand why he was feeling that way. Why did he feel like he was omitting something? He was just telling the truth. He had just kept Kurt awake, didn't he?

"I had a…a hypoglycemic crisis!" Kurt lied, because he couldn't just say that he had a defect in his system that had caused it to stop working. Oh, by the way, I'm a robot. He let out a humorless laugh. God, could he be any more pathetic?

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "A hypoglycemic crisis?"

"Yes," Kurt nodded "A very severe hypoglycemic crisis," he explained, kind of proud by how well he was lying. Hypoglycemia? Well it wasn't very convincing, but it definitely sounded a lot better than, "I was playing with Walter detective's things and handcuffed myself," because that had been really lame. And at least this time, his lie didn't make him seem like a complete idiot, a handcuffed genius.

Blaine furrowed his triangular eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't believe Kurt's story, he didn't believed it at all. And regardless of what Blaine had been desperately trying to convince himself of, he had taken care of Kurt. He had held him in his arms and had felt the boy's skin against his own. Kurt had been cold, dreadfully cold, as if he was dying. And Blaine was sure he had seen Kurt eat at least five pancakes covered with honey for breakfast. How the hell could Kurt have suffered with low levels of sugar after eating five pancakes covered in honey?

"And who's A. Abrams? Penny insisted to take you to him after your hypoglycemic crisis," Blaine asked. If Kurt, like he had said himself, had had a hypoglycemic crisis, Walter's reluctance to take him to a hospital didn't make sense. Any doctor in any hospital could threat a hypoglycemic crisis. It didn't require a specialist.

A. Abrams? Kurt thought, biting his lower lip. Who the hell was Blaine talking about? The android panicked for the briefest second before finally remembering Artie's surname. Oh!

"My doctor! Dr. Abrams is my doctor!" Kurt exclaimed. "He's been taking care of me for a long time so he knows everything about my medical history. That's why Penny insisted I should see him."

"Actually, if I'm not mistaken, her argument was, "A. Abrams is Kurt's only choice"" Blaine quoted, and Kurt was tempted to ask him why he was asking so many questions if he didn't care, but the android bit his tongue.

"Penny can be really dramatic sometimes," He shrugged "She should be an actress or something because boy, she loves a drama!"

Blaine gave him another skeptical look but before he had the time to ask any more questions, Walter called them from the kitchen.

"Boys, the tortillas are ready!"

"Did you hear that? The tortillas are ready!" Kurt squealed nervously. "I love tortillas! Let's eat tortillas!" He said in a singing tone as he stood up. He didn't even like tortillas that much, but he would be excited to eat pretty much anything Walter served them if that got him out of answering Blaine's questions. He couldn't explain why, it wasn't because he feared that Blaine would denounce him, Walter wouldn't let his son do such thing, but Kurt still didn't want the other boy to know what he was. He just didn't want Blaine looking down at him.

Kurt smiled nervously, walking in the door's direction, trying to get out of that room, but Blaine blocked his way and grabbed the boy's arm. Kurt looked at him and felt his breath get stuck in his throat. They were so close, Blaine holding his arm, and their eyes locked. Suddenly the air felt heavier and Kurt began to notice all these small and stupid details he shouldn't be noticing in Blaine's features, like how delicate the boy's eyelashes were or the small scar above his left eyebrow that Kurt wanted to trace with his fingertips… And how come Kurt had never noticed those green spots in the hazel of Blaine's eyes?

"The bed," Blaine breathed, bringing Kurt back to reality.

_Wait what? The bed?_ Kurt had to shake his head and break eye contact with him just so he could realize what Blaine had said. "W-what did you say?" he whispered.

Blaine cleared his throat. "You can, you know, sleep in my bed while you recover," he said, looking away and Kurt could almost swear that Blaine blushed a bit. Okay, Blaine had to make up his mind. He was so confusing. One moment he'd behave like a total jerk, calling Kurt Ice queen and imposing his stupid rules, and in the other, he acted like this, almost as if he did care.

"O-okay," Kurt nodded. He looked for Blaine's eyes, but the boy was looking away.

"But only until you get better!" Blaine blurted out, ruining the moment. "After that, the bed is mine. Do you understand me?" He said with a serious, almost threatening expression on his face. Kurt raised an eyebrow at that. This boy must be bipolar or something, that's the only explanation.

Blaine let go of his arm and hastily walked away.

_Well at least this time he didn't call you Ice Queen_ , the android considered, following Blaine to the kitchen. I think that can be considered as progress.

 

**

**************************

**

 

**_Walter fulfilled his promise…_** – B was what the text that Blaine had sent to his best friend hours later. Quinn's cell phone buzzed on Puckerman's nightstand, waking her up.

Quinn disentangled herself from Noah's arms, pushing away the comforter covering them. Puck whined something about it being cold and she threw a pillow at him. She sat up at the side of her bed and checked her phone. A satisfied smile flashed across the girl's pierced lips as she read her best friend's text. Quickly Quinn typed a reply.

_**Of course he fulfilled his promised! Didn't I promise everything would be okay? ;) – Q.** _

_**Oh sorry, I forgot the universe only works the way you tell it to. – B,**_ He replied making her chuckle a little.

**_Duh – Q,_** She answered, before placing her purple phone back on the nightstand.

** "Hey Puck," she said, poking the boy's side. He looked at her through his partly opened eyes. "What?" he grunted, his voice still husky from sleep.

"Wake up," She whispered, a mischievous expression on her face.

"I want to celebrate."

"Wait…what?" He frowned as she rolled on top of him and began to unbutton her flannel shirt.

Puck rubbed his eyes, trying to adjust his vision. "I'm feeling kind of used," He mumbled, yawning. Quinn laughed, tossing her favorite shirt across the room, not caring where it landed. "Just shut up, Puckerman," She laughed, her warm breath ghosting the junction of his neck and shoulder.

"So I guess your hobbit is better now, isn't he?" Puckerman concluded, rolling his eyes. He couldn't believe he was getting laid because of Blaine Anderson.

"I said shut up," Quinn scoffed, not giving further explanations.

But Puck didn't need any more explanations. The way the corners of Quinn's lips were lifting happily confirmed Puck's theories. She definitely wanted to celebrate the hobbit's recovery. And that kind of ruined his mood, but only for like 5 seconds because soon, Quinn had smashed her lips on his, their teeth clacking and lips stinging with such want, that Puckerman considered thanking Blaine the next time they saw each other.

 

**

**************************

**

 

If there was a word to describe how the rest of the night went, the word would be _awkward._

The awkwardness began during dinner. Kurt didn't have any idea how he was supposed to behave. Walter spent the whole time with this content smile ghosting the corners of his lips while his son mood's oscillated between seeming a bit more relaxed around his father and completely unreachable as usual.

The boys then went to their room and Kurt found himself standing in the middle of the room staring at the bed, not really sure if Blaine had really meant what he had said earlier, or if that was some kind of joke or prank. He only allowed himself to get on the bed as soon as Blaine entered the room carrying Walter's old futon and asked Kurt why the hell he was staring the bed. After that, it took a matter of seconds for Kurt to get under the covers, trying to hide the blush spreading throughout his cheeks.

Why had Burt given him the ability to blush, anyways? He could have given him lasers or super strength, but no, Burt made Kurt capable of blushing, an ability that most people would get rid of if they could.

That night, Kurt, who'd usually roll from side to side at least 100 times before finally managing to sleep remained completely immobile, the comforter tucked under his chin, him facing the wall, back turned to Blaine. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Why couldn't he sleep and how come suddenly he appeared to be capable of hearing every breath the other boy took?

_Damn, why does he have to breathe so loudly?_ Kurt cursed under his breath, trying to push away the thought that, just like him, Blaine also wasn't sleeping.

He had to push those thoughts away, because even if Blaine's breathing wasn't deep or as regular as it would be expected from someone who was asleep, that didn't mean that he wasn't sleeping. Just like how the android could practically feel the other boy's eyes on him also didn't mean anything, just that Kurt had a fertile imagination. Not that he was actually thinking much about Blaine, no, and Blaine definitely wasn't the reason why Kurt couldn't sleep. It just was insomnia, it happened to everyone occasionally. And it didn't have anything to do with the fact that the mattress of his bed smelled like coffee, nicotine and something else that only could be described as Blaine.

"Yep, most awkward night ever. Kurt grunted groggily before finally surrendering to sleep only two hours before Walter's alarm began to echo, announcing that was time to wake up.

 

**

**************************

**

 

"You guys look like you didn't sleep at all…" Walter observed, taking a bite of his waffle. There was something off, the boys had bags under their eyes and breakfast had been oddly quiet. Blaine didn't make any comment or complain about the food and Kurt didn't even notice the cherry that Walter had put on top of his waffles.

"I slept well," Kurt said a little too quickly. "Really well, like the whole night."

Blaine nodded. "Same here," he mumbled not really looking into his father's eyes. "You know, sleeping in a futon is certainly an underestimated experience," he said, making Walter raise an eyebrow. Was that sarcasm? The federal agent wondered. Walter really couldn't tell, but he smiled anyway. It was nice seeing Blaine use big words again. If he ignored the piercings and the clothes it was almost like having his little dapper boy back.

"Today, I have to go to work earlier than usual, so I won't be able to give you a ride, Blaine."

"No problem, Quinn's going to give me a ride, and we're going to get my car after school," Blaine explained taking a bite of his grilled cheese sandwich. "But why are you going to have to go to work earlier than usual, Walter? Too much technology needing to be seized from its owners?" He mocked, his mouth full of food. He always thought his father went to the FDTC to escape the mess of Homicide Department. He couldn't believe Walter was still a workaholic, even when his job just required him to seize illegal forms of technology.

"I-I…" Walter tried to explain, but Kurt cut him off.

"You're going to the morgue, aren't you?" The android asked, his voice thick, lumps forming in his throat.

Walter nodded, and Kurt looked away, biting his lip.

"I-I'm not hungry anymore," he murmured "The food was great Walter, thank you," He stood hastily and accidentally knocked down the bottle of honey. The golden substance spread all over the table cloth.

"Shit!" Kurt cursed. Blaine looked at him and furrowed his eyebrows. He had never heard Kurt swear before.

Kurt tried to clean the sticky mess using napkins, but his hands were trembling and he ended making an even bigger mess. He could feel Walter and Blaine's eyes on him, staring at him while he was being a clumsy idiot and as if he wasn't already making enough fool of himself, Kurt also knocked the bottle of strawberry syrup, which stained the white cotton of Walter's table cloth with vivid red. He bit his lip. Everything was just so wrong and it only getting worse, and there were hazel eyes staring him as if he was some freak. Tears burned his eyes and his dad was far away from there, dead, locked inside of a metal drawer in some morgue…

"Kurt!" Walter called, grabbing one of the boy's wrists and bringing him back to reality. "I'll clean this for you," he murmured taking the napkins from the boy's trembling hands. "Just go wash your hands and I'll clean this mess," Kurt looked at him, teary eyed, "Thank you," he murmured, his voice cracking.

The android practically flew in the bathroom's direction, hands sticky with honey, biting back tears as his cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"It was just me or he kind of freaked out over that?" Blaine asked, looking at the mess on Walter's table cloth.

Walter sighed. "Blaine…"

"What?" Blaine said. "He did get all disturbed after he knocked down the honey-"

"He is just going through a tough time," Walter interrupted his son as he grabbed a damp cloth in the sink "Just don't-"

"Don't what?" Blaine shouted. He hadn't done anything wrong.

"Just don't ask questions, give him some space, don't act like a jerk around him-"

"What?" Blaine gasped. What was Walter talking about? "I didn't do anything wrong! It's not my fault he got all worked up because of a table cloth!"

Walter looked at his son. "I know Blaine, you didn't do anything wrong, just-" He sighed heavily. "Just don't treat him like a freak ok? He's had enough of that already,"

Blaine nodded. He didn't understand what was going on, why would Kurt feel like that? But Blaine did understand what feeling like a freak felt like.

In the eyes of almost everyone, Blaine Anderson was the definition of a freak.

 

**

**************************

**

The doorbell rang. Blaine looked up from his cell phone and stood up and grabbed his bag. Walter had already left, so Blaine was sure that it was Quinn. She was a little late, but it wasn't like he was eager to go to school.

 

"Hey Quinn," Blaine greeted, opening the door.

"Hey B," She smiled, trying to pass through the small space between Blaine and the doorway.

Blaine blocked her way. "What are you doing?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Trying to get in," She explained in an obvious tone.

"I noticed that. What I don't understand is why you're trying to do that when we're late for school," He scoffed.

Quinn snorted. "You don't really expect me to believe that you're worried about school, right?" She said, trying to get past him but he blocked her way again.

"People change," He retorted.

"Yes and you already have changed, you used to care about school and now you don't, so get out of my way-"

"No!" He cried "Why do you want to enter Walter's apartment so badly?"

"You know why," She looked at him smugly through her purple sunglasses "I want to meet Kurt."

"Not going to happen," Blaine said, pushing her "We're late for school."

Quinn sighed heavily. Why did Blaine always force her to resort to violence? She kicked him in the shin, causing the boy to jump out of her way.

"Ouch! Quinn! Those are military boots! You can't kick people in the shin wearing military boots!" He hissed in pain, hopping on one foot.

"Oh Honey," she smiled, placing her hands on her hips "when you are going to learn that Quinn Fabray always gets what she wants?" She winked and turned her back to her friend.

She was going to meet this Kurt kid, and she was going to do it now.

**TBC...**


	12. The Child Pageants' smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Some person had taken another human being life, and this person had to pay. He just hoped that Walter wouldn't end up paying as well."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I am sorry I didn't update Human more regulary. I am used to post on Fanfic.net and I honestly thought there was no one reading here...  
> It is just that there were so many hits but no one comment (not that people should feel obligated to comment or anything if they don't feel like ), but I have to admit, I am a pretty insecure person, I always doubt myself, so I started to think people here on Ao3 didn't like the story. Anyway, I am sorry. I will update this more regulary.

Josh Daves let out a breath as he looked down for the thousandth time at the tests results spread across his table. "Dammit, Walter! what kind of mess have you found yourself into this time?" he murmured to himself before taking another sip of his sugarless black coffee.

Days ago, the body of Burt Hummel had arrived in the morgue and as soon as Josh had gotten assigned responsible for the necropsy, Walter had called him, asking him for a favor.

"I need to know if Burt Hummel was murdered," He had said, direct, dry. Walter didn't waste time trying to start small talk or anything like that, he knew Josh was the closest thing he had to a friend and that he wouldn't deny him a favor.

"I will send you a message as soon as I am done," was all Josh had said to him, before hanging up. Josh and Walter were a lot alike. They both were over their forties. They also were both introverted, enjoyed Classic rock'n'roll music, and had been embittered by life. Josh had also lost a son, named David. He had died at the age of 5, due to leukemia. And it also had happened out of nowhere, just like Cooper's death. One day, Josh had noted strange bruises on his son's arm, and soon, the hospitals, the chemotherapy sessions and the doctors were saying that there was nothing more they could do. It was better if they took David home, where he could spent his last days in peace.

Walter went to the funeral. It had happened three months after Cooper's death. He hadn't recovered from his son's death, but still had gone to David's funeral. And that was why Josh would never deny Walter a favor. They could not hang out often or send each other Christmas cards, but they were always there when one needed the other.

"Fuck," he murmured. Walter wasn't supposed to deal with this kind of shit anymore, Josh thought, grabbing one of the files.

Burt Hummel had been murdered. But not in the usual way, and yes, there were usual ways of killing someone. You could shoot them, you could poison them with insecticide, you could suffocate them or hit them. These were the methods of murder Josh saw every day. But he had never seen anything like Burt Hummel's cause of death.

He had been poisoned, but not by a common poison, by some type of herbal recipe, something, that according to Josh's research, kills someone in less than 5 minutes. A kind of herbal recipe that is so rare, so unique, that it doesn't even show up in regular tests. In fact, Josh had only found what killed Burt Hummel because he ran every possible test, something he wouldn't have done if Walter hadn't called him, insinuating that Burt could have been murdered. If he hadn't called, Josh probably would have declared that Burt's death had happened due to natural causes. It seemed like a heart attack caused by the usual cardiovascular problems, because that was what this herbal recipe made the cause of death look like, a massive heart attack.

Burt's killer wasn't some angry wife who had been cheated on, attempting to get revenge, or a drug addict after his next fix. This was the work of someone intelligent, a genius maybe. This herbal recipe was very difficult and extremely expensive to make. Only a few people were capable of making it, and one of those few could end up after Walter if he began an unofficial investigation.

It was obvious that Walter was planning on starting his own investigation. He didn't work with Homicides anymore. And that was what worried Josh the most, because Walter was the best and would probably find Burt Hummel's assassin before the lazy homicide detectives would even begin to plan a course of action. The only problem was that he wouldn't have the protection of a badge anymore, which meant he wouldn't be able to call reinforcements if things got too ugly.

It had been almost 24 hours since Josh had sent Walter a message asking to him come and see him. Josh could still lie; in order to protect his old friend, he could say Burt Hummel's died because of a heart attack.

"So what do you have for me?" Walter asked as soon as he entered Josh's office, carrying coffee and a box of iced donuts.

Josh looked down at the file in his hands. He took a deep breath. "What kind of mess have you been in, Walter?" He asked tiredly, shoving the file towards his friend.

Josh Davis knew he was probably being stupid, probably helping Walter dig even deeper into the confusion he had found himself into, but he couldn't just defend a murder. Some person had taken another human being life, and this person had to pay.

He just hoped that Walter wouldn't end up paying as well.

 

**

*************

**

"Where is he?" Quinn asked, her eyebrows furrowed. Blaine held on to her arm, still insisting that they were late for school, but there was no way she would leave before meeting Kurt, seeing the first person that had caused her best friend to show some type of emotion. Besides, she had made a bet with Santana on what this Kurt guy would look like, and Quinn couldn't be surer that she would win those 10 bucks.

Santana was sure that he would be a beefy guy, a jock with strong arms and broad shoulders, just like Blaine's first crush, Ted, and most of the guys he had been banging since he came out, but Quinn knew her best friend too well. Blaine wasn't into those type of guys anymore. He just went after them because he knew he wouldn't be able to develop feelings for guys like Ted. His first crush ended so badly, that Blaine didn't have the ability to look at any boy with even the smallest similarity to Ted without wanting to over power him, using him and then walking away from them, just for the pleasure of hurting someone who looked like the boy who had humiliated him in front of the whole school.

Quinn was sure that Kurt would be the complete opposite from Blaine's hook ups. She could practically picture the boy in her head; tall, delicate-

"Shouldn't you be at school?" A high pitched voice asked, bringing Quinn back from her conjectures. And wow, this boy was gorgeous. Flawless pale skin, delicate features, perfectly coiffed chestnut hair, the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen, and they were fixed on her as Kurt acknowledged her presence.

"Oh…Hi," Kurt said looking at her, slightly blushing.

"Hi! I'm Quinn Fabray, nice to meet you!" Quinn smiled mischievously, glancing at Blaine before holding out her hand.

"I'm Kurt," the android murmured, taking her hand. Walter said he had to be careful when meeting new people, so he wasn't really sure if he was supposed to tell people his last name.

His skin felt so soft again hers that Quinn almost wished that she hadn't chosen today to wear her stretchy, black, fingerless gloves. "You look quite well for someone that was dying last night," she teased, glaring at Blaine, who looked extremely annoyed by his friend's behavior and had his jaw clenched tight.

"It was a very severe hypoglycemic crisis," Blaine and Kurt said in unison, Blaine sounding annoyed and Kurt sounding nervous.

Quinn would have laughed at that scene, but something was bothering her. Kurt was lying. She could tell.

"Really? A hypoglycemic crisis?" she inquired, eyebrows raised. She was sure that Kurt's crisis was one of the main factors that triggered Blaine's break down the night before. The boy must had looked really, really ill. Only to witness someone close to him dying without being able to do anything about it would bring to the surface all of the darkness and grief that Blaine had been repressing inside of him over the years.

And well, Quinn wasn't a doctor, so she couldn't be sure if a hypoglycemic crisis could look that bad, it probably could, but she was always good at reading people's faces and the look on Kurt's face and the way the corners of his mouth twitched slightly… That had made her so sure that the boy was hiding something.

"Y-yeah it was a severe crisis," Kurt assured her. Damn, he was a terrible liar.

"Quinn, we should go... we're late for school and I don't want get in trouble with Walter," Blaine said, not giving his friend a chance to start an interrogation.

"Please Blaine, it's not like we aren't gonna skip half of our classes anyways… I don't know why you're so eager to go to school," she said and rolled her eyes, but when Blaine gave her another stern look she decided she would let go, justfor now.

"Wel, it was a pleasure meet you, Kurt," Quinn said, flashing at Kurt one of her best smiles, the one that her mom had taught her when she still was the most feared competitor in the Child Beauty Pageants across the state.

"It was nice meeting you too, Quinn," Kurt said, the corners of his month twitching slightly. Quinn felt happy at that. Her mother was right; No one could resist the winning smile. "You know what? You should hang out with us sometime. Blainey and I have this little gang and I'm sure they would love to meet you," She offered brazenly, catching Kurt and Blaine off guard with her suggestion.

Kurt didn't know what to say to such an invitation. For what he had heard from Walter, he had an idea of how this "gang" might be and it didn't appeal to him, but at same time, no one ever invited him to hang out, and if you ignore the torn clothes, Quinn seemed like such a charming person. He couldn't just bluntly say no, that would be rude. "I -"

"Well this has been a really lovely experience," Blaine interrupted, words dripping with sarcasm. "But we are really late! Let's go Fabray," he pulled her by her arm, towards the door.

"Bye, Ice Queen!" Blaine shouted, missing the way Kurt rolled his eyes, as he practically dragged hisfriend out of the apartment.

"What the hell was that Fabray?" He barked as soon as they were out of Walter's apartment. Quinn didn't seem to mind though, red lips still flashing an amused smile.

"I just wanted to meet him," She said, her voice full of mocking innocence as she batted her eyelashes ridiculously.

"You just wanted to meet him? Quinn, you invited him to hang out!" Blaine snarled as they got into the elevator.

"So what?"Quinn questioned, undeterred. She slid on a half-smirk "It's not like we're part of some weird cult that kills animals in satanic rituals!"

"Don't you get it? he's not-"

"What? He's not punk enough, he doesn't wear enough leather?" She inquired, her eyebrow raised, arms crossed above her chest.

Blaine shook his head. "No, it's not like that…He's just- he's not like us, okay?"he gritted his teeth in frustration. He honestly had no idea how to explain it to her, he just knew that Kurt wasn't like them, he couldn't picture Kurt acting the way they did. "Kurt is different" he murmured.

"What you mean by different?" Quinn asked Blaine, giving him a floundering look.

"Can't you see?" He snapped. "Just look at him, he is nothing like us!"

Quinn huffed out an annoyed breath and rolled her eyes. Sometimes Blaine was so blind. "You know what I see? Under those layers of expensive clothing, I see a broken kid. Didn't you see his eyes? His red, puffy eyes? That boy isn't only barely holding himself together, he is also lonely."

"He is not like us," Blaine insisted, it came out forceful, but somehow... choked.

"Blaine-"

"Jesus, Quinn, can you just let it go? Why do you have to keep looking for a tragic story everywhere? Not everyone needs to be saved. Kurt is not like us. He's just a fashion diva with low levels of sugar in his blood," Blaine snapped.

Quinn wrinkled her nose "For how long do you intend to keep pushing away anyone with whom you could actually share more than just cheap alcohol, cigarettes and body fluids?"

Blaine stiffened a bit at her comment, and pressed his lips together in a thin line. "I didn't push you away, did I?"

Quinn sighed. It was pointless to keep arguing, Blaine was in full defense mode again.

 

**

**********

**

 

Penny hated parking her car in Walter's neighborhood. Her baby was too precious to be around Walter's building. There were always these kids with evil looks on their faces who seemed like they were just waiting for an opportunity to ruin her hybrid Smart Car's paint job. She just didn't get why people hated smart cars. They were the cutest cars ever. And her's was a convertible for God's sake!

 _"Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play. Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day. The sun is up, the sky is blue! It's beautiful and so are you…Dear Prudence won't you come out and play~_ Penny's cell phone rang as soon as she turned off her car's engine.

"Dammit, where did I put my phone?" She murmured, looking for the phone in her pockets. But of course, it wasn't in her pockets. The sound was coming from her purse which, as usual, was a mess. There were things that she didn't even remember putting there in the first place. "Where the hell did these crayons come from?" she cursed under her breath and spread out her purse's contents on the passenger seat.

_"Dear Prudence, open up your eyes! Dear Prudence, see the sunny skies! The wind is low, the birds will sing~"_

"Aha-ha!" She grinned, finally pulling the device out. "Waltermelon" was flashing in its screen under a pitcure of Walter with his usual grumpy expression. In Penny's defense, it was Artie's idea.

"Penny! What took you so long-" Walter began to say as soon as Penny answered the phone.

"Can we just skip the part where you complain and skip to the one where you tell me how things went in the morgue?" Penny said boldly, supporting her phone between her shoulder and jaw as she put the contents of the purse back in it.

"As we already know, Burt Hummel was, indeed, murdered," Walter said. Penny bit her lower lip. Yes, they had already expected such results, but it wouldn't make it easier for Kurt to hear the news. His dad had been murdered for God's sake!

"How?" She breathed, before getting out of the car and unintentionally slamming the door shut.

"Poisoned by some type of herbal recipe, a very rare one. It kills its victim fast and barely leaves a trace. If Josh wasn't so damn good, Burt Hummel's cause of death would probably just be declared as a heart attack."

"That's horrible. But if it kills quickly, that must mean that-"

"The killer must have left minutes before he got there," Walter said, knowing where Penny's line of thought was leading her.

Penny felt a twinge of pain in her chest. "We could have prevented this Walter, if only we had-"

"No, Penny," Walter interrupted. "Don't even begin with the "what if's" and "if we had'", it's not our fault, and there was nothing anyone could have done to save Burt. Let's focus on catching whoever caused this, and keep Kurt safe, okay?"

"You're right. I just- I never expected to have to deal with these kinds of things, Walter. Murders, millionaires, conspirators… Sometimes I just catch myself wondering if we're doing the right thing," She admitted, leaning against her car.

"Do you-"

"No, Walter. I don't regret anything. I could never regret saving Kurt. in fact, he's the only good thing that has come out of all this," Penny said, letting out a tired sigh. "I just don't know if we are capable of dealing with all this. I mean, this killer used some poison and has not left a trace! Hows someone like me supposed to stop monsters like that? I don't know if I'm brave enough to even point a gun at anyone!"

"But that's what makes you one of the good guys, Penny!" Walter cried. "There's no bravery in pointing a gun at someone; you do that only when it's necessary.! No one's supposed to feel great or bold by threatening to take another person's life. People like that shouldn't be able to even carry guns! So don't you worry, we're the good guys, and the good guys always win in the end, don't they?"

Penny nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Then she remembered something. She had gotten the book! She put herhands on Der Kleine Prinz."I have great news, Walter. I got the book!"  
"Really? That's great Penny! I'll be home soon, so we can talk to Kurt. If someone in the office calls, we're inspecting the robot flea market," He whispered, as if he was afraid of being heard.

"Okay, see you later, Walter!"

"Bye."

 

**

**********

**

 

"Hey Penny!" Kurt greeted as the ginger woman entered Walter's apartment. "Walter didn't tell me you'd be here this early!"

"He didn't count on my astonishing efficiency," She said in melodious tone.

"Oh my God!" The boy gasped. "Did you get the book from the Evidences Deposit?"

"Of course I did!" Penny exclaimed, opening her purse and handing Kurt the bag that contained the book. "C'mon Kurt, Aunt Penny's the best!"

Kurt chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "Aunt Penny?"

"It sounded way better in my head than it did out loud," She laughed as Kurt sat down on the couchand managed to break the tamper indicating tape that sealed the bag.

"And Walter?" he asked, his eyes fixed on the book'sleather cover. It said Der Kleine Prinz in gold, cursive letters.

"I think h-he's on his way. He'll be here soon," Penny stuttered anxiously.

Kurt looked at her and swallowed thickly, his throat feeling very constricted as he saw her confidence falter."You already talked to him, didn't you?"

"Kurt I-" She tried to say something, anything really. But how can you possibly find the words to tell a young boy that his father was murdered?

"And judging by your reaction, you already know the necropsy results…M-my dad...He was murdered, wasn't he?"Kurt whispered, exhaling shakily. He stared down at his hands and away from Penny's eyes.

"Kurt-"

Kurt swallowed the thickness in his throat, and slightly nodded his head. "I already knew. I did. I mean, people don't just die like that Penny!" He felt his stomach in knots and his insides rolling up and twisting as he remembered his dad's body having fallen on the floor. "And he was fine, you know? Sure, he sometimes ate too much bacon, but he was fine…"

"I'm so sorry, Kurt..."

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna break down and cry, not again."

"Kurt, it's okay to cry,"

"No it's not!" He shouted, slamming the book shut and dropping it on the coffee table. "I've already cried too much, I've already had too many breakdowns! It's enough! We don't have time for mourning, we have to find out who did this and really hurt them! Only then I'll be able to mourn, when we've locked up this monster, and I finally am able to feel safe again."

"Alright, if that's what you want, I'll respect that, but don't feel ashamed of crying, or mourning, or anything like that, Kurt. It doesn't make you weaker," She said, sitting beside him and a placing an assuring hand on his shoulder.

"Kurt, listen to me," she murmured. "We're going to catch who did this, I promise you. You'll feel safe again, soon."

Kurt nodded at the ginger's words. He believed her and refused to let the tears burning his eyes stream down his face. He was tired of crying, tired of feeling weak. He would have to be strong. Now, more than ever, he needed to be strong. Someone had messed with the Hummel's, and this person would have to pay.

Minutes ticked by in silence as they sat there, Penny caressing the boy's shoulder until Kurt said something. "How about we take a look at this book over here, huh?" He said, grabbing the book off the coffee table and pushing the painful memories of his dad to the back of his mind.

He handed Penny the book. After some time of staring at a page in the book, Penny finally gave up. "Yeah, like I said, I don't know a word of German."

Kurt shrugged. "That makes two of us, then."

"Well, I think I'm going to make us some tea. Do you want some?" Penny offered, standing up. Kurt nodded, flipping through the pages of the book.

"Hey, Penny?" Penny heard Kurt calling her as she stepped into the kitchen.

"Yes, honey?"

"There's something wrong with the book," Kurt murmured, flipping the pages of the book back and forth.

"What do you mean?" Penny rushed towards him.

"Penny," Kurt looked up into her eyes. "There are pages missing."


	13. Metempsychosis

"It's missing pages?" Penny gasped, grabbing the book from Kurt's hands.

"Yeah, look! Page 5 and then page 7! There's no page 6!" Kurt flipped the pages of the book. "And some pages are torn!" he said, pointing to page 18, which had been mostly ripped apart and was barely readable.

Penny took a deep breath, millions of questions running through her mind. When had these pages been torn? Could someone have ripped the pages when it was in the Evidence Deposit? But the evidence bag was sealed…

"Are you sure the book wasn't like that before, when you first received it?" Penny suggested. Maybe Kurt just hadn't noticed the torn pages before. "You said you never paid any attention to the book!"

Kurt fought the urge to roll his eyes. "I never paid much attention to this book, but I would have noticed if there were pages missing!"

"Kurt, this is really serious," Penny said, gripping the book in her hands. Her anxious brown eyes met Kurt's blue. "Are you sure the book was in perfect condition before your father's murder?" she asked.

"Yeah Penny, I'm sure!" Kurt assured her. "I was cleaning my room the day before, and I assure you, I saw this book and it was in perfect condition!"

"Oh my God," Penny said nervously, leaning against the wall.

_What was going on?_

 

**

********************

**

"You totally owe me 10 bucks!" Quinn announced as she threw herself on the old couch under the bleachers where their crew normally sat when they skipped classes. Santana was already there, lying on the couch, looking completely breathtaking as usual. She wore black boots, a tight red t-shirt, high waist shorts and torn fishnets. Her girlfriend, Brittany was there too, curled up at Santana's side, wearing an over sized sweater with a cat print on it and a studded pair of bleached shorts.

"Oh c'mon! Seriously!?" Santana exclaimed, pulling a crumpled pack of cigarettes from her front pocket. "He doesn't have those sexy muscles and broad shoulders?" the Latina girl inquired incredulously, before lighting a cigarette between her red lips.

"Well, there are definitely muscles there," Quinn chuckled, stealing one of Santana's cigs. "He has a nice body, but this Kurt guy is definitely not the beefy type."

"So Blaine's new friend is cute?" Brittany asked, her blue eyes sparkling with curiosity. She looked slightly different from the last time Quinn had seen her. Britt's hair seemed slightly shorter and its tips were dyed purple.

"He's not cute, he's fucking gorgeous," Quinn giggled.

"He's not _gorgeous_ ," The girls heard a masculine voice say behind them. They turned around and saw Blaine approaching them, his triangulareyebrows furrowed together and bag slung over his shoulder.

"Well, well, look who we have here, skipping classes and all. Mr. We're late for school!" Quinn mocked. "What happened to that thirst for knowledge you seemed to have this morning?"

"Shut up," Blaine murmured, sitting beside Quinn on the edge of the already crowded couch.

"What? It's fucking true! You were the one who was all eager to come to school, practically dragging me out of Walter's apartment, pointing out every five minutes or so how late we are… What now? Aren't you afraid of getting in trouble with Walter?" Quinn smirked.

Blaine frowned even more than he had already been, his features morphing into an expression Quinn couldn't quite describe, but it was definitely something in between of being utterly annoyed and completely embarrassed…Maybe a mix of both?

"I hate you so much," he muttered, noticing how his stern look didn't affect her at all. Damn her being my best friend, He thought.

Quinn laughed. "No you don't! And get over this stupid denial thing, and just admit it, Kurt is fucking gorgeous!"

Blaine kept his eyebrows furrowed together.

"And stop making your triangular eyebrows look like they are going to attack each other. Frowning that much will give you wrinkles, B," Quinn was checking out her black nails when she said it, but Blaine could still see the pleased look on her face.

"Fuck you Q," He muttered, looking for his cigarettes in his bag. That minted crap Santana and Quinn smoked was too sweet for him. "And you can think that that elf is "gorgeous", but he's just not my type," Blaine retorted, lighting his cigarette.

"Oh, shut up!" Quinn scoffed, bumping her shoulder against Blaine's, her lips curling up into what Blaine only could describe as a knowing smile. It was also somewhat seductive and perverted. "He's everyone's type! He has flawless skin, long legs, that goddamn sexy hair… And those blue eyes!? Let's not even talk about how unbelievably blue his eyes are! If I wasn't sure he's gay, I would totally go for it!"

Santana laughed, tempted to say that Quinn would go for pretty much anything, but the one who broke the silence was her girlfriend.

"So Blaine's new friend is a dolphin?" Brittany asked. "He's not my friend," Blaine muttered, which went ignored by the girls around him.

"What do you mean by Dolphin? Does she mean gay?" Quinn asked, unsure. Santana looked at her, nodding.

"Oh yeah, Kurt is definitely gay," the pink haired girl said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You don't know that!" Blaine shouted and huffed.

Quinn rolled her eyes, blowing a puff of smoke out past her lips. "Please Blaine, everything about that boy screams gay!" she said, gesturing with her hands and causing Britt to chuckle.

"Who's gay?" Mike inquired, arriving out of nowhere.

"Jesus Mike! How about a little warning? You almost gave me a heart attack!" Santana grunted. Sometimes she wondered if Mike found some secret pleasure in doing that, walking around unnoticed and then scaring the shit of his friends by popping up out of nowhere.

"Sorry, I didn't mean scare you guys," the Asian boy laughed, supporting himself against the bleachers. He was the only one in the "gang" who didn't smoke. Mike was saving up money so go away after high school to a place where he could to be a dancer, far from his oppressive father. He needed to be in the best shape he could if he wanted to be a performer, and doing something that would ruin his lungs wouldn't exactly help him reach his goals. "But who were you guys talking about? Who's gay? Well, besides Santana and Blaine and Britt…"

"Well, apparently Blaine's new friend is the capital G-A-Y," Santana explained.

"He's not my friend!" Blaine snarled, throwing his hands in the air; no one seemed impressed by his fit. "You know what? I'm not taking any more of this shit, I am going smoke in another place," he groaned before standing up.

"Hey, don't think you can run from us! No one can hide from the Snix," Santana teased as Blaine walked away from them.

"Alright, let me see if I get it," Mike said trying to understand what was going on. "Blaine has a new friend and he's gay?"

"And cute!" Brittany squealed excitedly, making her girlfriend chuckle.

"Gorgeous if you ask me" Quinn added with a wink, a smug smile ghosting the corners of her red lips.

Mike shrugged, lips twitching upwards. "Cool."

**

********************

**

"Walter! What took you so long?!" Penny had said anxiously as soon as the federal agent had stepped inside his apartment. Walter raised an eyebrow at that, there was something wrong, he could tell by the look on his partner's face.

"What happened?" Walter asked, placing his keys on the coffee table. "Did you tell him about-"

"Yes, Walter, I am aware my father was murdered," Kurt interrupted. The android was sitting on the couch, looking paler than usual. He looked tiredly at Walter, his blue eyes filled with a sort of resigned sadness as if he already was used to such a feeling.

Walter flinched at the sight. Somehow, Kurt looked older, too worn-out for his age. He was so young, yet life had forced him to already have to go through so much. He hadn't experienced what a person would normally be experiencing at his age, but he already knew grief and what living in fear felt like.

Walter didn't know what he was supposed to say, but he needed to say something in order to comfort the boy. "Kurt-"

"The book, Der Kleine Prinz, is missing pages," Kurt cut off, before the Walter had the chance to say something. He didn't want to hear any more "I'm sorry for your loss"s. He was sick of people feeling sorry for him, and mostly, he was sick of feeling sorry for himself. There was no time for mourning. Not now, at least, when his father's murderer was still out there, threatening his life.

"What did you say?" Walter asked, being caught off guard.

"There are pages missing," Kurt repeated as he stood and held the book towards Walter.

"Are you sure?" Walter asked, taking the book out the android's hands.

"Yeah, look. Do you see this? Page 21? Whoever ripped it was in such a rush that they only tore half of the page, and if you look carefully at the piece that is still hanging, the font on it looks different. It's way smaller than the font used on the other pages of the book," Kurt said pointing to the half torn page.

Penny stood beside Walter. "And there's this word over here, "Metempsychosis"," She pointed out. "It's repeated two times, and this is a Latin term!"

Walter looked at the book, astonished. His mind was filled with thousands of different questions.

"So you think that the pages that contained information about Kurt's origins were mixed with the pages of the original novel?"

"We think so," Penny answered, nodding. "Using my phone, I translated some parts of the intact pages and they matched with the original book. But I have almost all the editions of this book and even the bigger ones didn't have more than 109 pages…But this book? It has almost 200 pages and 50 are missing!"

Walter sighed. "We need get this book to Artie now so he can translate and analyze it."

Penny placed a hand on her partner's shoulder. "I have to go to the office and finish some reports. Artie's house is in my way, so I can drop the book off there," She offered.

"Okay then," Walter nodded "Do you need a ride?"

"No, I drove here, but thanks for the offer!" Penny said, pulling her keys out of her purse.

**

********************

**

Walter grabbed Penny's arm before she could enter the elevator. "Penny, do you have your gun with you?" Walter asked quickly.

"N-no," she chewed her lip, the locks of her strawberry hair falling on her face. "I only carry my gun when we're on missions... I didn't think-"

"From now on, I want you to always carry your gun with you," Walter interrupted her, a stern look darkening his features.

Penny eyes widened. "Why? do you think we're -"

"I don't know," Walter said, running his hands through his curly hair. There was a thought echoing in his head, a suspicion, but he could be wrong, but what if he wasn't wrong? What if What if his suspicions were true? He needed Penny to be safe. "Burt's building had a fire escape," He said, looking into the ginger woman's eyes.

"What?" Penny gasped.

"Burt's building had a fire escape, and this fire escape could be accessed from Kurt's room," Walter clarified.

Penny took a step back, holding out her hand, as if she was taking a moment to absorb what Walter had said. "Wait, wh-what's that supposed to mean? Do you think the assassin saw us?" she asked.

Walter sighed. "I don't know Penny, maybe?" He concurred pensively. "It's a possibility. The poison that killed Burt acted in a matter of a few minutes… What if the killer still was there when we got to the house? It would explain why the killer hadn't taken the book with him."

"What do you mean?"

"Why would the killer tear a few pages out of the book instead of taking the whole thing with him? It seems like a rushed, stupid decision. It's the kind of decision you make when you think you have cops on your ass and you just killed someone," Walter said. There was a brief, inexplicably tense pause, during which Penny looked at him as if he'd grown another head.

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed, her hand above her mouth as the implications of Walter's suspicions finally hit her. The killer could have seen them, and by now they may even know who they are, maybe even where they live...

"Don't-just don't freak out, okay?" Walter said. He approached Penny and held her shoulders, lightly squeezing them as he spoke again. "It's a possibility, but we're not sure."

"But Walter-"

"You don't need to feel scared, Penny," He interrupted her. "If this killer wanted to attack us, he would have done so when we were still there. You were alone in that house for almost twenty minutes before backup arrived, and nothing happened. This person is probably physically weak. They're a coward trying to erase their participation in Kurt's creation. They are not going after two federal agents and harming us would attract too much attention, and that's not what he wants," Walter assured her.

Penny bit her lower lip, still unsure. She looked back at Walter. Her eyes met his reassuring hazel eyes. "You're right, this killer is a coward. He's not going to go after us," she shrugged, trying to sound bolder than she actually felt.

"We're going to catch him first," Walter offered, the corners of his lips lifting in reassurance.

"We will!" Penny nodded "And I guess I- uh- I'll begin carrying my gun, which I'm still afraid of using... in fear of..." She began to trail off nervously.

"Penny! What did I say about freaking out?" He looked at her, and rose his eyebrow.

Penny blushed, lowering her eyes. "I was kinda freaking out, wasn't I?"

Walter nodded. "Kinda."

"Sorry, this is just-I can't imagine-"

"I know, I know. But carrying your gun is just a precautionary measure. We're not really even sure if the killer saw us," Walter said.

"You're right. And I have my Bruce Lee moves. If this killer dares to mess with us or Kurt, I will protect us," She assured him, smiling.

"Of course you will," Walter nodded, allowing himself to respond the ginger girl's smile. That was the Penny he knew, the adorably brave girl who overcame her fears by cracking silly jokes and geeky remarks.

"Now, come here give this old man a hug," Walter said, and then immediately regretted it, thinking about how inappropriate and unprofessional the request was.

"You're not that old," Penny chuckled, throwing her arms around his shoulders. "Just grumpy," She murmured against his trench coat, burying her face in his chest.

After walking Penny to her car, Walter walked back to his apartment. Kurt was once again sitting on the couch, hugging his legs. He seemed so absorbed in his own thoughts, his eyes so lost. Walter looked at him. The boy seemed so small, and he was hugging himself as if he was struggling to keep himself together.

"Hey kiddo, come here," Walter grunted, because why not? Apparently, he was a freaking marshmallow wasn't he? No one bought his grumpy façade anymore.

Kurt stared at Walter, a confused look on his face "What?"

"You heard me," Walter huffed. "Just get your ass over here, Hummel. I want hug you."

Still frowning, Kurt stood and allowed himself to feel some comfort as the older man wrapped his arms around him. He felt lumps forming in his throat as Walter'sarms tightened a bit around him and almost wished his arms were free. But maybe it was a good thing they weren't. If Kurt had returned the hug, it would almost be as if his father was there.

"You know, I'm not letting anything happen to you, right?" Walter assured the boy. "I promise you Kurt, I'll do anything to keep you safe. Do you understand me kiddo? You're safe…"

Kurt nodded. He missed his dad. And he'd give anything to have him back. But that was not going to happen. At least he had Walter, Penny and Artie.

Maybe Kurt was going to be okay after all.

**

********************

**

 

Quinn was being ridiculous, with that malicious smile of her, by asking Kurt to hang out with them. Ridiculous. She was just looking for an excuse to tease Blaine and get some sort of revenge on him for all the times that Blaine had made fun of her past relationships. That was the only reasonable explanation for her behavior. Or at least that was what Blaine kept telling himself.

He spent the whole day grumpily avoiding his best friend. What Quinn had said to him about Kurt being someone with who Blaine could actually share more than just cheap alcohol, cigarettes and body fluids was complete bullshit.

What the hell I would share with the Ice Queen? He thought, rolling his eyes. "Our hatred for each other is one thing we share..." He murmured to himself as he opened the door to Walter's apartment.

He looked around and raised his eyebrow. Where was everybody? Blaine was sure that Walter would be expecting him at home, ready to lecture his son about skipping classes. After all, Walter had promised that he would call the principal to make sure Blaine had showed up in class. But surprisingly, all Blaine found was a half empty bottle of whiskey on the coffee table, and a note hanging on the refrigerator saying that Walter had gone out for a walk to clear his head, that there were 50 bucks under the cat figurine, and that the boys should order something to eat. That was weird. From what Blaine remembered, Walter drank and went on walks only when he was working on some big and complicated case.

But what kind of complicated case could Walter have been working on, being in the FDTC... The boy considered. Even Blaine knew that 94% of the FDTC's cases consisted mainly of the seizure of illegal androids used for sexual satisfaction and the destruction of robots who, suddenly refused to do what their owners had programmed them to do. And please, if Walter was acting like a complete workaholic because of that job, he really was a lost cause.

"Hey there, Ice Queen!" He greeted, entering his and Kurt's bedroom. The other boy didn't even bother to look at him. His eyes were glued to what seemed to be Walter's phone. What was he doing with Walter's cell phone?

"Did something happen?" Blaine asked, dropping his bag on the floor.

At that, Kurt looked up. "What made you think that?" he asked.

"Well, there's some serious tension in the atmosphere, and it seems like Walter drank half a whiskey bottle," Blaine shrugged.

"Well, I-I don't know why your father would do such a destructive thing, but I assure you, nothing happened," Kurt replied, a bit nervously, and scoffed.

Blaine laughed and plopped down on the futon, which was now placed on what seemed to be his half of the room. "Bro, you used so many big words, when you could just fucking say, no dude, everything's fine," he mocked. "But I guess you're not the type of guy that says, dude."

Kurt snorted. "Why are you making it sound like using big words is a bad thing?" he said, a hint of smugness sounding clear in his voice.

"What the hell are you doing with Walter's phone?" Blaine asked, seeing that the other boy was clearly struggling to do whatever he was trying to do.

"I have no idea," Kurt cried, frustrated. There were so many buttons and options and applications! How ironic was it that apparently, he was some sort of technological miracle, and he couldn't even work a simple piece of technology? "I just wanna look up the meaning of a word, but I think I just called the Chinese food place!"

"What?" Blaine stood up. "Have you not seen a cell phone before? Jesus..." He asked, grabbing the device from Kurt's hands.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Of course I've seen a cell phone!" he retorted. "I've just... never actually used one..." he concluded in a small voice, his cheeks flustering with embarrassment.

"You're kidding me, right?" Blaine looked at him unbelievably. Kurt turned redder. "What are you? Amish?"

"No, I just never had anyone to talk to," Kurt mumbled, looking away, the sadness perceptible in his voice. "Why would I have a phone?"

Blaine's astonished eyes remained on him. "That's disturbingly sad," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Anyways, what's the word you want to know the meaning of?

Kurt looked at Blaine. "Metempsychosis," He said, remembering the Latin word Penny had found on that one piece of page 21.

Blaine frowned. "what?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "M-E-T-E-M-P-S-Y-C-H-O-S-I-S" He spelled.

Blaine typed in the word, and snorted as he read the results of the search. "I never would've guessed you were into esoteric stuff, Hummel," he mocked.

Kurt rose an eyebrow at that. "Why d'you say that?" he asked.

"Metempsychosis, Late Latin, from the Greek word metempsychōsis, the belief in the transmigration of the soul, its reincarnation after death. It is a doctrine popular among a number of Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism whereby upon death the soul takes up residence in a new body…" Blaine read out loud in a mocking tone, because seriously? Reincarnation? That was so lame.

When Kurt didn't make any snarky remarks, Blaine looked at him. "Are you okay?" He asked. Kurt was pale, completely immobile. The words Walter said once echoing again inside of his head.

_"You can't be Kurt Hummel…_

_Kurt Hummel died ten years ago."_

**TBC...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the reading! Next chapter will be up tomorrow!


	14. Dangerously Sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Stop! Just stop!" Blaine interrupted Walter. He didn't want any more explanations. His mom had been right. Barbara had been right this whole time. Walter would never give up being a detective, the greatest detective. He would never settle down and live a peaceful, safe life. He needed the adrenaline and to be the shining prince, the hero who catches all the bad guys! How naïve Blaine had been, actually believing that Walter would stop putting his life in danger, and risking his and his family's life.

_It was dark. Blaine didn't know where he was, but he could hear someone calling him. "Blaine! Blaine! Blaine! Please help me!"The voice cried. Blaine ran towards it. He ran through something thick and red. He was stumbling, falling, crawling, and drowning… But the boy couldn't stop. He had to keep going; he needed to save this person. He couldn't lose someone dear to him. Not again. The screams become louder, echoing inside of Blaine's mind, pushing at the back of his eyes until he couldn't see properly. But he kept running. The person's strident screams were making him deaf and dizzy and feel sick. He couldn't stop running._

_When he finally reached the person, there was a faceless figure above them, a shadow holding a rusty kitchen knife. Blaine screamed, "No! Not again!" He wouldn't let it happen again. He was strong and grown up now. He could protect the people he loved. He gripped the shadow's shoulders, trying to pull it away, but with each attempt, Blaine felt weaker. His hands seemed to be getting smaller, and he was losing strength. When the shadow finally vanished, Blaine was a young boy again, wearing his old Spiderman pajamas and clenching on tight to a teddy bear. He looked down at the stiff body the shadow had been attacking moments ago. The person he could have saved. And there was more of that red substance. It was blood, now he could see it. Not only that, but it smelled and practically tasted like it as well. It was everywhere, staining his Spiderman pajamas, his teddy bear, and the lifeless hazel eyes of the Shadow's victim._

_Lifeless hazel eyes._

_His father's eyes._

" _Walter!_ " Blaine jerked up, panting and wide-eyed, covered in sweat. His hands were gripping the sides of the futon. He look around the room. Kurt was sleeping peacefully in his bed. Blaine laid back down, biting his fist and closing his eyes to push the tears back down–– It was just a nightmare and he wasn't a child anymore. He wouldn't cry because of a damn nightmare.

Blaine felt claustrophobic inside of his room. He had to get out and take a shower. It was Saturday and usually, he didn't wake up this early. He stood, grabbed some clothes and crossed the hallway and walked towards the bathroom.

He supported himself on the sink, his breathing still a little erratic. Blaine couldn't believe he was having these kind of nightmares again. After Cooper's death, it became a normal occurrence in Blaine's childhood to wake up screaming and panting. But when he turned ten years old, these nightmares occurred less and less frequently until they stopped all together. Blaine couldn't even remember the last time he had had a nightmare like that. So why had they come back now? Especially now that he had to share his room with someone? Blaine couldn't even imagine what Kurt would say if he woke up to see Blaine screaming like a little girl.

"Fuck," He cursed, burying his face in his hands.

He washed his face in an attempt to clear his mind. It didn't work. So he took his clothes off and took a shower, hoping the cold water would wash away the heaviness feeling that suffocated him. That didn't work either. He got out of the shower, threw on a pair of jeans and a worn out t-shirt..

He went to the kitchen to drink some water, and maybe get something to eat, but he heard Walter on the phone with someone and stopped dead in his tracks.

"When will the body be released?" Walter asked, taking notes in the small copybook above the coffee table. "Oh okay… Can you send the report to my email?"

Blaine couldn't believe what he was hearing. Body? Why was Walter dealing with bodies again? The FDTC doesn't deal with dead bodies, only technology!

"Thank you, Josh yes, yes… tell Meg I said hi. Goodbye."

Josh? Blaine murmured, a million thoughts running through his mind. He only knew one Josh, Walter's only friend. But no, that couldn't be happening! Why would Walter...

"Blaine?" Walter said, standing up and almost dropping his phone as his son stepped out of his hiding place. "Are you hungry? I'll make some-" He began to say, but then he looked at his son, really looked at him, and felt the words dying inside of his mouth.

Blaine looked at his father and bit his lip, so many feelings overtaking him and being shown clearly in his eyes. "Are you working on homicides again?" the boy asked, the feeling of betrayal perceptible in his voice. How could Walter work with homicides again, after all that had happened? After Cooper's death?

"Blaine-"

"Why?" Blaine hissed, the pain audible in his voice. "After what fucking happened to Coop, how can you- _What the fuck, Walter!_ How can you even step in crime scene again? How does it not remind you of him?"

Walter shook his head. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't tell Blaine the truth, this secret wasn't his to share. And besides, that would only put his son in danger. "Blaine, I'm not working with Homicides. It's not like that-"

"Oh is not like that, then tell me, What's it like?"Blaine yelled, crossing his arms. And then the realization hit him. If Walter wasn't working with Homicides again... "Oh my God!" The boy gasped, covering his mouth with a shaking hand. "You're trying to solve a murder on your own, aren't you?" he asked in an accusing tone.

"Blaine-"

"Stop! Just stop!" Blaine interrupted Walter. He didn't want any more explanations. His mom had been right. Barbara had been right this whole time. Walter would never give up being a detective, the greatest detective. He would never settle down and live a peaceful, safe life. He needed the adrenaline and to be the shining prince, the hero who catches all the bad guys! How naïve Blaine had been, actually believing that Walter would stop putting his life in danger, and risking his and his family's life.

"I don't want to hear any of your bullshit anymore, Walter," Blaine said, his fists clenched tight at his side. "If you wanna risk your life dealing with this kind of shit again, That's just fine! Do whatever you want! Go back to being the greatest detective of all time, the hero of the 198th district who solved all these mysteries but never had time pick up his own sons from school!" Blaine shouted, knowing exactly what he was insinuating.

Walter felt Blaine words ripping apart his heart. "Blaine…" he murmured.

"You know what? Let's just pretend this conversation never happened. That's what the Andersons do, isn't it? We pretend that everything is fine, that we're not suffering or hurting each other... So let's keep doing that, let's pretend I didn't hear you talking to Josh on the phone, risking your fucking life," Blaine choked that last word, holding back a tear as he remembered his nightmare, the image of Walter lying on the ground covered in blood. "-when your family is already too fucked up because of grief and suffering!" The boy concluded, turning his back on his father and walking away.

He never said what he actually meant.

_Please dad, I can't lose you too._

**

********************

**

Kurt was sitting on his bed when Blaine stormed into the room. He wasn't in his pajamas anymore. Blaine and Walter's discussion had woken him up. The android heard some parts of it, and now he couldn't help but feel guilty. It was his fault Walter was lying to Blaine, so maybe it would be better if he told the other boy the truth, that he was an android and that his father had been murdered, and Walter was trying to figure out Kurt's origins.

"Walter is a good guy you know…" Kurt trailed off, trying to work up the courage to tell Blaine that Walter was a good guy and had only been helping him.

"Don't- Just don't," Blaine said, covering his face with his hands. He was still fighting to hold back the tears burning his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn't need Kurt telling him how great Walter was, not now.

He just wanted to be left alone. Couldn't Kurt see that?

Kurt stood, approaching Blaine "I just-"

"How about you stop meddling in my family's problems?!" Blaine snapped " _Jesus_ , don't you have your own family?"

Kurt felt like he had been slapped across his face. He stepped away from Blaine, almost stumbling onto his bed. "No, I don't," he mumbled, feeling his eyes water.

Blaine furrowed his eyebrows together, confused. "What?"

"I don't have a family," Kurt said again, Blaine's words still echoing through his head and he felt releasing all the resentment, all the bitterness he had kept locked inside himself for the past few days. "My dad died days ago, and I don't even remember my mother! So I'm sorry, but no, I don't have my own family!" He snapped, throwing one last hurt glare at Blaine's direction before turning his back on the other boy and leaving the room. He slammed the door shut behind him.

"Fuck," Blaine murmured taken aback by Kurt's revelations. _What had he said?_

**

********************

**

Kurt was sick of that apartment. He felt constricted and claustrophobic. He needed to go out. He had already spent too much time of his life locked away and hidden from the world.

He knew he was being stupid, and as soon as Kurt walked through the living room and unlocked Walter's apartment door, a little voice inside of his head screamed at him and it told him that what he was doing was crazy and potentially dangerous, but Kurt just needed get away from there. He needed to get away from Blaine and from the confusing feelings he felt. The android wasn't thinking straight. He just wanted to breathe again and to clear his head.

And Kurt would have succeeded in this foolish attempt to leave the building, if he had paid more attention to where he was going. Running, he crashed and fell on an Asian girl, knocking her down along with the boxes she was carrying.

They both ended up on the ground, covered in white foam peanuts. Kurt was on top of the girl, and she stared at him wide eyed. She was shorter than Kurt, had long dark brown hair and wore a bright-blue dress with an elongated neck boasting decorative buttons and a Peter Pan collar.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Kurt gasped as he stood up and offered the girl a hand. "I'm really, really, sorry..."

"No, it's okay," The girl responded quietly. "There was nothing valuable in those boxes, you know, except the urn in which I kept my grandmother's ashes."

Kurt panicked. "Oh my God! Did I break the urn? I'm so, so sorry!?" He squealed, his voice going higher than usual.

"No, no that was a joke! A terrible, terrible joke! Don't cry, you didn't break any urn!" The girl rushed noticing that a single tear was streaming down Kurt's cheek.

"Crying?" Kurt frowned before touching his cheek. His skin felt wet. He had probably been crying when he ran away from Walter's apartment "No, I'm not crying because of this," He mumbled and shrugged.

"Did something happen?" The girl asked, kneeling on the ground to pick up the foam peanuts which were spread all over the place.

Kurt kneeled down as well and helped her. "I just- I feel so alone," he confessed, unable to help himself. "Oh God, look at me, talking about my problems to a complete stranger," he murmured, completely embarrassed. He couldn't be a bigger weirdo, could he? Stumbling onto strangers and then babbling about his feelings?

"Well in that case, my name is Tina Cohen-Chang, and it's nice too meet you!" The girl said, holding out her hand and smiling.

Kurt smiled back. "I'm Kurt," he said, shaking her hand.

"Well Kurt, now we're not strangers anymore," she said, standing up with a box in her arms. "So how about I make us some hot cocoa?" she offered, motioning towards her apartment.

"Hot cocoa?" Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah! I make the best hot cocoa ever!" Tina assured him proudly. "And I'm new in town, and also what you would call a socially inept person, so I'd love to make a new friend…"

She flashed him a warm smile. Kurt still seemed a little reluctant.

"Hot Chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream?" she added and winked.

And well, it's not like Kurt could say no to that. "Okay!" he smiled, helping Tina with one of the boxes.

"Let's see if your hot cocoa really is the best cocoa ever!" He teased, making the girl giggle.

**

********************

**

"You seem upset," Penny said to Walter as they stood in front of Artie's apartment door.

Walter had been strangely quiet this morning, and he didn't even complain when Penny had suggested they go to Artie's in her car, and he hated her car! And unless something was really wrong, there is no way Walter would lose a chance of driving around his big, 65' Pontiac Tempest GT.

Walter sighed, looking down at his shoes. "Blaine found out that I'm working on a case involving a murder and got mad at me. He said some pretty harsh things..."Walter trailed off and let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Things I probably deserved"

Penny bit her lip. "D'you think he's suspicious about Kurt?" she asked, ringing Artie's doorbell again

"I don't think so," Walter mumbled, running his fingers through his hair. "But Blaine- he 's just so disappointed with me," he said, his eyes watering. "I didn't even make the kid's breakfast. He said some pretty harsh things and I-I just ran away."

The sigh he let out was weary and heartbreaking. "I ran away, like I always do."

"Don't say that, Walter. You know why we're doing this. Not for recognition or some job promotion, but to save Kurt's life. It's all to protect Kurt." Penny rubbed Walter's shoulders. "You will earn Blaine's trust again. You'll prove yourself to him, Walter. Trust me," she said and flashed a small but assuring smile at her partner as she lightly squeezed his shoulder.

"Thanks Penny... you really are ama-"

"HELLO." A metallic voice greeted the federal agents, making them jump.

"Jesus Artie-" Walter exclaimed, before looking up and realizing that it wasn't Artie standing at the door, but a huge, gray robot with a face drawn in with red marker. "You're not Artie..." Walter murmured, taken aback.

"NO. I AM EUGENE, ARTIE'S NEW HOUSE KEEPER," The gray robot said, stepping aside in order to make space for Penny and Walter to enter the apartment.

"Well, nice to meet you Eugene," Penny said with a small smile. "I'm Penny and this is Walter."

"THE PLEASURE IS MINE, PENNY. NOW PLEASE FOLLOW ME, ARTIE IS WAITING FOR YOU IN HIS LAB." Eugene gestured for them to follow him.

"Oh hey guys!" Artie said looking up from the computer in front of him with an eager grin on his face.

Walter took a look around and well, Artie's lab was a mess. It was chaotic. There were files and pictures everywhere, computers flashing numbers and Walter just had stepped on something sticky.

Eugene the robot was a terrible house keeper.

"I see you've already met Eugene," Artie said, taking a sip of his coffee. Eugene nodded, sitting in a chair beside Artie. "Some stupid punks threw a bottle on his head a few nights ago which damaged his system. but I took him in and fixed his central processing system.

"Cool," said Penny, her lips twitching upwards as she supported her weight on the table. "So did you manage to translate the book?" She asked, grabbing one of the files spread over the table in her hands.

"No actually I didn't-" Artie began to explain, before being interrupted by Walter.

"What?" Walter gasped. "But you said-"

"Calm down! I didn't, but Eugene over here did. He is fluent in French, Portuguese, Spanish, German, English and Greek."

"AND AYMARA," Eugene added, somewhat proud, as he held a small mirror and added details to the face on which he had already drawn, above the cold surface of his face.

"Aymara?" Penny rose an eyebrow.

"A NATIVE SOUTH AMERICA LANGUAGUE," Eugene explained, slightly tilting his head as he didn't understand Penny's lack of knowledge. "ARE YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH SOUTH AMERICAN NATIVE LANGUAGUES?"

"No one in this room besides you is familiar with South American Languages, bud," Artie answered, placing a hand on Eugene left shoulder. "But how about we focus on what's important here?

"SOUTH AMERICA NATIVE LANGUAGES ARE IMPORTANT," Eugene retorted, crossing his arms above his metallic chest and looking away. Walter was astonished with the robot's reactions, besides the lack of grace or fluidity in his movements, there was something so human about the way Eugene was crossing his arms, It was something almost childish. And one thing was to see such human characteristics in Kurt, who was fleshy and human-like, but it was weird recognizing such mannerisms in a legal model, a cold, metal robot.

"Of course they are!" Penny assured the robot. "And I would be thrilled to learn some of them later, if you can teach me, but right now we really need to discuss others subjects, Eugene."

"OKAY," Eugene said after a while, still watching Penny for signs of trickery. For the robot, South American Native languages were serious business.

"So what did you- I mean, what did Eugene find out?" Walter asked before Eugene decided to give them a lesson about native languages around the world.

Artie pointed to one of the screens behind him, where the book's pages were showing up with the translations. "As Penny suspected, there are pages from some diary which explains Kurt's building mixed with the pages of the original book," He said as pages of Saint-Exupéry's work showed up on the screen. "Unfortunately, majority of the pages that contained information about Kurt were torn from the book. The only one we actually managed to read was page 18."

"And what was on the page? What did it say?" Penny asked, her eyes fixed on the screen.

"Well, they describe the difficulty of finding the perfect texture for Project Metempsychosis's skin-"

"Project Metempsychosis?" Walter raised an eyebrow.

Artie nodded. "Yeah, that's what they call Kurt. It's a Latin term that refers to reincarnation… Anyways, it uses a lot of scientific terms that probably won't make sense to you. Page 18 describes the struggles of "Sandra", who is trying to find the perfect texture for Kurt's skin-"

"Sandra?" Walter interrupted.

"Yeah, her last name's not there, but apparently the person responsible for Kurt's artificial flesh was named Sandra."

"Oh my God, we have a name." Penny blinked rapidly, startled.

"Two, actually," Walter added. "There's that Gunther guy."

"We have the names of two people who were involved!" Penny squealed excitedly.

"But no last names," Walter pointed out skeptically.

Artie grinned at Walter's pessimism. "Well actually, I may have figured out Sandra last name…" he trailed off.

"Really?" Penny eyes sparkled "How?"

"Well her name didn't seem strange to me. I've been studying the industry of robots that were use for sexual satisfaction for a while, trying to understand the Adam Jenkins's case, and there was this small company called Lucunditas-"

"ITS MEANS PLEASURE IN LATIN," Eugene clarified.

"Thank you Gene. Anyways... this small company was known for the manufacture of the most exclusive and realistic models," Artie explained, displaying images of the Lucunditas' most luxurious models. Walter was familiar with most of these models. They were quite popular in the black market of illegal androids, and the federal agent had lost count of how many he had already seized.

"And Sandra worked there?" Penny asked.

"If the Sandra mentioned in the book's name is Sandra Jordan, then yes, she worked there. She worked on developing the tissues that covered the androids' endoskeletons. None of Lucunditas's models had tissues as perfect or as flashy as Kurt's. But if someone is capable of developing something like that, given enough money and time, this person could be Sandra Jordan," Artie informed them, showing on the big screen behind him the image of a short haired woman dressed in a white coat, holding a test tube.

"We have to find this Sandra person," Penny stated, observing Sandra's features carefully. She was pale, had a heart shaped face, grey eyes, dark brown hair in a pixie haircut, a small, pointy nose and red lips.

"I couldn't find Sandra's location, but I found the address of her twin sister, Chloe," Artie said, grabbing a pen and writing down the address on a small piece of paper. "Here, it's an hour drive. She lives in Westerville, near an all boys school called Dalton Academy, or something like that."

Penny grabbed the piece of paper. She knew the neighborhood where Chloe Jordan lived. She used to spend her summers not far from there at her grandparents house. "If we go now, we can still be back before dinner."

Walter made a face. "And how we are going to impose authority by driving there in your car?" he teased jokingly.

"Fine, Walter. We'll take your car." Penny rolled her eyes. "My precious baby is too good for you, anyways," She retorted, walking away.

Walter muffed a laugh. "I guess we have to go now. Thanks for your help, Artie. Call us if you acquire any new information," He said following his partner.

"See you later Artie! I'll bring you more red vines!" Penny shouted from the living room, making Artie chuckle.

"CAN YOU BRING ME MARKERS? ARTIE DOES NOT HAVE ANY THAT MATCH MY SURFACE'S COLOR," Eugene shouted as well, standing up.

Artie raised an eyebrow, huffing a noise of disbelief. "What're you talking about, Genie? Red looks great on you!"

 

**

********************

**

"Okay, tell me what happened," Quinn said as she bit into her cheesecake.

They were at the Lima Bean. Quinn had invited Blaine to eat cheesecake with her and she just wouldn't deal with anyone who was in a bad, grumpy mood while she ate cheese cake. It ruined the magic of her weekly cheese cake! She had spent years starving to fit her mother's expectations of her weight, and she wouldn't have anyone ruin those sweet moment of rebellion, not even Blaine.

"Nothing happened." Blaine shrugged, still staring at his plate absently.

"You haven't even touched your cheesecake," She said and pointed to the plate with her fork. "You know how offensive that is? This is my weekly cheesecake ritual, and you can't be a part of my Weekly cheesecake ritual and not even touch your cheesecake!"

Blaine sighed, putting his fork down. "I was a jerk."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Blainey, it's not like you being a jerk is something exactly new… That's actually kinda your thing, you know, being a jerk."

"That was kind of offensive," Blaine retorted.

"Of course it was, because that's my thing. I'm a bitch, and being a bitch is my thing," She explained.

Blaine smiled. "I thought Santana was the bitch..."

Quinn snorted. "No, she's the Snix. Being "Snixy" is her thing."

Blaine raised an eyebrow playfully. "Snixy"?"

"Oh shut up," Quinn said and scoffed bumping her foot against Blaine's. "You know 'tana, so you know what I meant. Now tell me what's going on? Who were you a jerk to?"

"I fought with my dad," He admitted, looking down at the slice of untouched cheesecake on his plate. "And then Kurt tried to defend Walter, so I told him to stop meddling in my family's business and to worry about his own family... "

"I bet you've said worse things to him… That doesn't even sound bad."

Blaine sighed. "It wouldn't be the worst thing I've said to him if he wasn't an orphan... His dad died days ago and he can't even remember his mother... Kurt-h-he has no family."

"Ouch," said Quinn. She wince. "That really was a jerk move, Blaine."

"I know!" Blaine groaned, running his hand through his curls. "It's like you said. I'm a jerk, and I usually don't mind being a jerk, but I know what loss and grief feels like and I just- I don't know what to do, Quinn."

Quinn tilted her head in quiet consideration. "Apologize," she said, as if it was that simple.

"What?"

_Apologize?_ He couldn't do that. He never apologized to anyone. He had probably forgotten how to do such a thing.

"You heard me. If you're feeling bad for what you said, apologize," Quinn said. "And then invite Kurt to hang out with us tonight at Santana's place," She added.

"Are you out of your mind?" Blaine echoed flatly. "I get the apologize part, but why would I invite him to hang out with us? I already told you, Kurt is not like us."

Quinn rolled her eyes, huffing. "I'm not going to even argue with you about how Kurt is so much more similar to us than you think he is, or how you are obviously attracted to him but don't have the guts to admit it." Blaine gave her a stern look, but before he could interrupt her, Quinn continued "But I know you think that Kurt is hiding something," she said, capturing her best friend's attention.

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked, looking less skeptical and more curious.

"You know exactly what I meant. _The hypoglycemic crisis thing?_ That was bullshit and you know it. And there's something in that boy's eyes. Kurt is hiding something and we need to find out what," Quinn said, a wicked smile ghosting the corners of her lips.

Blaine narrowed his eyes. "And what's your plan? You think you'll invite him to hang out with us, and suddenly he'll tell you all his secrets?"

"You were the one who told me that Kurt has never had a cell phone, because he didn't have anyone to call. He probably doesn't have any social aptitudes." Quinn smiled at Blaine, flashing her perfect white teeth and leaning on the table "It'll be easier to get him to talk if we take Kurt out of his comfort zone. We have to go to a place where alcohol is effortlessly obtainable," She suggested with a smirk.

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Fabray, you are evil."

"I know," The pink haired girl said, licking her fork clean. "But like I said, I'm the bitch of this dynamic duo."

**

********************

**

"So you're from New York?" Kurt asked between mouthfuls of a delicious chocolate chip cookie. There were sitting in Tina's kitchen, which was worn down but clean, with recent rudimentary steps taken to make it seem clean enough to live in. The tabletops and floor were as shiny as they were ever going to get, the plates and cups were arranged neatly on the counter and some recently washed things were hanging on the strainer.

"Yep," Tina answered and nodded, taking a sip of her hot cocoa.

"Oh my God," Kurt looked at her unbelievably. "And what brought you to Lima?"

Tina shrugged. "Work."

"And how long have you been in Lima?" Kurt asked, rubbing his fingers together in a feeble attempt to remove the melted chocolate from his hands.

"Only a few days! That's why the apartment is still a mess. I swear, I'm not a lazy person!" Tina laughed, handing the boy a cloth to clean his hands with.

"What happened to the old lady who lived here?" Kurt asked absently, as he cleaned his fingers. "Her last name was Chang, wasn't it? Are you two related?"

"Oh no, we're definitely not related… And I think she died," Tina whispered, making a face.

"Oh my god!" Kurt gasped. He didn't even know the old lady, but still...

"It was a cardiac problem or something like that," Tina murmured. "Hey, do you like musicals?" She suddenly asked, changing the subject for a lighter one.

Kurt's eyes sparkled as he looked up from his hot cocoa. "I love musicals! Why?"

Tina smiled. "I just really feel like watching Moulin Rouge. The box with my movie collection is actually one of the few boxes I've already unpacked. So what do you think? Do you want to watch it with me?"

"Oh my God, first this hot chocolate, then cookies, and now Moulin Rouge… What are you, an angel?" Kurt chuckled, wrinkling his nose adorably.

Tina was just so sweet, a little dorky and nerdy, and so very kind. He didn't tell her anything about himself, though. He didn't tell her about his father, or about why he was so sad. He just sat there, drinking hot cocoa and hearing her fascinating stories about New York, talking about music, clothes and crappy reality T.V shows. He was already feeling better and less lonely. And even if Tina was a little older than him, being 24 years old, for the first time in his life, Kurt had a friend.

"I'll get my laptop then!" Tina smiled, standing up. But soon as the Asian girl stood up, the clock hanging on the wall caught Kurt's attention. It had been hours since he had left Walter's apartment. It was probably time to go back.

"Tina, wait!" He called out. "I didn't even notice the time! It's getting pretty late, I should probably be getting home."

"Really?" Tina pouted.

"Yeah, but we can schedule a movie night or something," Kurt offered, smiling. "But only if you make more hot chocolate, because seriously girl, this is the best hot chocolate ever."

"Well, I can't argue with that," Tina said smugly. "My hot cocoa is in fact the best cocoa ever!"

**

********************

**

Blaine was lying on his bed, going through his text messages. As soon as he heard the bedroom door open, his eyes shot up and found Kurt standing in the doorway. Blaine swallowed, turning white at the sight of the android. Immediately, everything felt too obvious. It was so obvious, how he was feeling guilty, the way he was sitting on the bed on purpose, hoping that Kurt would see him there and get mad, be bitchy about it, or maybe even yell at him. If Kurt yelled at him, Blaine wouldn't have to apologize. He was giving Kurt a chance to explode at him or something, so Blaine could skip the humiliation of saying he was sorry for his behavior earlier that day.

He held his breath, expecting a release of thundery rage. But nothing happened. Kurt just quietly crossed the room, setting up the futon.

"So I'm back on the futon, huh?" Kurt murmured, a little sarcastic but mostly resigned. After all, Blaine being nice? That wasn't something meant to last, right?

Blaine felt uneasy at Kurt's lack of reaction. Why wasn't Kurt getting mad? Why had he acted like that, as if he had already been expecting something like that coming from Blaine? Kurt was supposed to yell at him, and his silence only made the older boy feel worse.

"Walter sent a message saying he's going to be late," he said, and Kurt nodded grabbing a magazine from the bedside table. Blaine cleared his throat. "So, Where were you? You spent the whole day out…"

Kurt didn't even bother to look up from the magazine in his hands. "That's none of your business," he answered coldly.

Fuck, Blaine thought, closing his eyes. That was it. He was going to have to apologize.

"Kurt I- I was really upset this morning," Blaine stumbled on his words, and as they fell from his mouth, he knew they were coming out all wrong. He felt relieved, but it just had been so long since he had last apologized to someone and actually meant it…

"Being upset doesn't give you an excuse to be an ass," Kurt said, his voice sharp-edged and hostile. "And you know what, Blaine? I'm pretty damn upset too, I've been upset since day one, but that didn't give me any reason to treat you like shit, just so I could feel better about myself."

Blaine bit his lip. He got to his feet, clenching his fists tightly at his sides. He didn't know how to respond to that. Kurt was right, he had been an asshole, acting like a jerk from the beginning, but there just something about Kurt, about his damn blue eyes, that got to Blaine in such a way that drove the older boy mad. And he didn't like that feeling. It had the potential to become something he wouldn't have control over. Kurt was someone who Blaine could actually grow to care about and want in his life, and that wasn't how Blaine wanted to feel. He didn't want to feel like he needed someone. He knew very well that as soon as you let people in, it becomes easier for them to hurt you, and he was sick of being hurt.

"My brother… h-he was killed," Blaine said, trying to keep his voice from breaking. He didn't know why he was telling Kurt that, he just wanted the other boy to know that he wasn't just a stupid kid who treated other people like crap for fun.

Kurt looked up at Blaine. "What?"

"That's why I was upset with Walter, because he's risking his life again," Blaine confessed. For the first time in years, he was speaking about how he felt. "And for what? For a case. He doesn't even work with homicides anymore. There are thousands of cops out there who could be working on whatever case he's working on, thousands of cops that could be risking their lives, but no, it has to be my dad… He doesn't even have the protection of a badge anymore…"

"I didn't know..." Kurt felt a twinge of guilt in his chest. If Walter was risking his life, it was because of him, because he felt obligated to help Kurt to discover how he was made.

"It ruined my family you know?"Blaine looked at away, his factures being twisted in a mask of resentment and bitterness. "I didn't only lose my brother. I lost my mom and my dad as well. My family as I knew was reduced to ashes. And when I finally thought I would have a chance of maybe rebuild the relationship Walter and I used to have I discover he is risking his life again, just because he can't let give up being the greatest detective"

"Maybe your father is trying to help someone?"

"You just don't get it…" Blaine shook his head. "Walter is just trying to be a hero, Kurt. As he always does. But you know what happens to heroes in reality? It's not like in the movies, where they solve the mystery and catch the bad guy… In real life, things get ugly and whoever plays the hero dies alone in a dark alley , choking on his own blood,"

"Walter is not going to get hurt," Kurt responded, and his throat tightened. "H-he's not going to die like that."

Blaine let out such a bitter laugh, that the words that followed felt toxic inside his mouth. "You don't know that."

Kurt wanted to say that he knew what he was talking about. He wanted to tell Blaine that he was the reason Walter was putting his life in danger. He wanted to assure Blaine that he wouldn't let his father get hurt, that he would give himself up to those who were after him, before letting Walter or anyone, get hurt because of him.

But before the android had the chance to say anything, Blaine's phone rang loudly, ruining the moment and killing Kurt's courage in the process.

Blaine grabbed his phone and looked at the screen. "Are you coming or not? -S" a message coming from Santana read.

He looked at the message, considering all the possibilities. Millions of thoughts filled his head, about the talk he had just had with Kurt, the talk he had had earlier with Quinn, and how vulnerable and exposed he felt while Kurt stood across from him...

"You wanna hang out with me and my friends?" He asked, not believing what he was actually saying that until he heard his own words.

"What?" Kurt raised an eyebrow.

Blaine looked at the confusion on Kurt's face. It wasn't like he could screw up things more than he already had done, talking to Kurt about his feelings… So why not?

"Do you wanna go out or not?"

"But Walter! he's-" Kurt tried to say, his face suddenly feeling warm.

"He's going to think we're at Quinn's house, in the middle of a movie marathon," Blaine clarified, typing a text to his father.

"But you're not planning on going to Quinn's house for a movie marathon, are you?" Kurt asked, already knowing the answer.

"Nope," Blaine smirked, not staring at Kurt, but watching Kurt's face as the boy understood the implications of his words.

"I think I'm going pass on that. But don't worry, I won't tell Walter that you're not at Quinn's house. So you know, have fun doing whatever you're planning on doing," He assured Blaine, cheeks slightly the tone of pink.

"C'mon Hummel, live a little." Blaine's eyes met Kurt's.

Kurt gulped.

"I have this new issue of Vogue that I haven't read yet so…" He trailed off, holding the magazine.

Blaine snorted. "Are you really gonna spent your night, a Saturday night, reading Vogue? You're seventeen! Don't you think that now's the time to be adventurous? To live a little?" There was a smile in his voice.

Kurt gulped again, blue eyes still locked at Blaine's hazel ones.

"O-okay then" he murmured not aware of what he was about to get himself into.

 

****

************************

  
Tina ran her fingers through her hair exasperatedly, watching as her cell phone buzzed. She closed her eyes, trying to ignore the buzzing sound echoing in her empty apartment, hoping it would stop.

It didn't.

She grabbed her cell phone and collapsed back onto the sofa with a huff, folding her knees up against.

" _Is it him?_ " the voice on the other side of the line said as soon as she answered the call.

Tina bit her lower lip, closing her eyes. "Yes."

" _Great. You know what you have to do now._ "

**_TBC..._ **


	15. If it kills me

Santana knew how to read people.

It was her special skill. Some people could cook really well, and others could write and draw well. But Santana knew how to identify people's weaknesses and fears, just by looking at them. She developed this skill during her freshman year, when, for the first time, she looked into a girl's eyes and felt butterflies in her stomach.

Looking into that girl's chocolate brown's eyes made Santana feel more vulnerable and threatened than ever. What if people found out? What if people hated her, or if they wanted to hurt her? She couldn't allow anyone to have such power over her. So she began to observe people and tried to discover their little secrets in order to see through their facades. It was her way of figuring out how to make her own facade more believable.

And even after she came out and the whole, "Ya no eres mi hija!" episode, followed by her being kicked out of the house, Santana kept observing people, not only to protect her façade, but because it had become a habit.

For example, she was one of the few people that actually understood Sam's apparent goofiness and the boy's naivety. The kid worked as a stripper in the nastiest club of Lima. It was a place where no one cared if the hot stuff with the six pack who was taking his clothes off was actually a boy. A 16 year old boy who still loved cartoons and who, every night, sometimes still with remains of glitter on his skin, would put his little sister in bed while imitating SpongeBob Squarepants.

For Sam, the boy who had spent a whole afternoon tweeting the name of the girl he had a crush on next to little hearts until it trended, the goofiness and his happy facade was all an escape, a way to protect himself from the ugliness, from the creeping feeling that he was just a thing, a piece of meat that was to be sold. It helped him escape from the bad memories, including the times an older woman had offered him an amount of too badly needed money, and his little brother needed a new pair of shoes a little too badly, and Sam actually did sell his body.

Everyone had their little escape. Santana knew that. She could easily list Quinn's, Puck's, Mike's, even Brittany's. But if there was someone whose escapes and facades truly fascinated Santana, that person was Blaine. When Blaine had crossed the school's hallways, wearing a leather jacket, when he had burned his bowties and broken Ted's car's windshield with a baseball bat, he had intrigued her.

He used to be the quiet, dorky boy, sharing an unusual friendship with the popular head cheerleader, Quinn Fabray. He was an A student with a strange liking for 50's fashion. He always smiled and was polite, but his eyes… Blaine's eyes never lied. And no matter how much he smiled or laughed, Santana still saw scars of abandonment, grief and loneliness inside the boy's hazel eyes.

They just didn't sparkle.

The first time Santana actually saw Blaine's eyes sparkling was the day he put on the leather jacket and decided that he was sick of all the crap people were putting him through. It was the day he accepted how fucked up he was, how his 50's wardrobe couldn't hide all the darkness he carried inside of him, that Santana decided she wanted to be his friend.

And for the years that followed, she never saw Blaine's eyes sparkling with anything but rage, resentment, excruciating loneliness or burning revulsion.

And that is why Santana, the girl known for reading people, was caught completely by surprise when Blaine entered her apartment followed by a pale boy. Blaine's eyes were sparkling with something else, not rage or resentment, but something she had never seen in his eyes before.

Santana's lips curled into mischievous smile.

Tonight would be a fun night.

**

**********************

**

"Those are such beautiful flowers," Penny said, admiring the sunflowers in Chloe Jordan's garden. "I've always wanted to plant sunflowers."

Walter shrugged, ringing the doorbell. "I had a cactus once," he said slightly smiling.

Penny giggled. "Of course you did."

Walter raised an eyebrow. "Why're you laughing?"

"You had a cactus." Penny couldn't stop laughing.

"So what?" Walter blushed.

"Nothing… It's just that, you know, there are dog people, cat people, sunflower people, and well, then there's you, a cactus person!" Penny said, biting her lower lip to stop laughing.

Walter rolled his eyes. "Anyone can like sunflowers! They're yellow and pretty, but cactuses?" He glared at Penny. "They have spikes and most people are afraid of them, but you know what? If you take care of your cactus properly, you will be rewarded with the blossom of the most beautiful flowers."

"Now I get why you like cactuses." Penny looked at Walter, and placed a hand above her heart. "You are a little cactus," she teased.

"Oh my God, Penelope." Walter turned even redder. "Get a grip on yourself, we have an interrogation to do."

"Okay, okay." she nodded, ringing the door bell and trying to put a straight face on.

A few seconds later, a short woman opened the door. And she wasn't what the federal agents were expecting at all. She seemed to have come out of some sort of documentary about Woodstock, dressed in a v-neck shirt with a Guatemalan print on it and a wrap skirt with the ruffled design of a striking mudmee tie dye pattern.

"Are you Chloe Jordan?" Walter inquired as the short woman fixed her eyes on him, the long layers of her brown hair falling on both sides of her heart shaped face in messy waves.

"That's what the system calls me," the woman murmured quietly.

"Well, Miss Jordan, I'm Agent White and this is my partner, Agent Anderson. We work with the FDTC and we would like to ask some questions," Penny said but the woman remained silent, staring at Walter.

"Ma'am, are you feeling well?" Walter frowned, beginning to feel uncomfortable under the woman's glare.

"You have a beautiful aura," Chloe murmured, putting a hand out, as if she was touching some invisible barrier around Walter. "It's orange."

Penny looked at Walter with her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, only to receive an even more confused look from her partner.

Walter cleared his throat. "Ma'am, we would like to ask you some questions about your sister Sandra, do you know where we can find her?"

"Are you looking for Sunshine?" Chloe laughed, before stepping back. "Come in, let's have some tea while we talk about Sunshine."

Penny shrugged and followed the small woman to her messy living room. There was a worn out green couch covered with blankets, and multicolored flags with "free love" printed on them hanging in middle of the room. All around it were colorful lamps and incense burners made of wood.

And everything, absolutely _everything_ there seemed to be somehow tie dyed.

"Have a seat," Chloe said, motioning towards the couch as she sat down on the ground.

Penny sat down as well, but Walter remained standing and couldn't help but muffle a sneeze at the couch's intoxicatingly sweet smell. It was like lavender but mixed with something else that probably wasn't even legal.

"So Miss Jordan, we would like some information about where we could find your sister, Sandra…" He trailed off, as the woman kept looking at him weirdly.

At the mention of Sandra's name, the hippie woman squealed, "Sunshine!"

"Sunshine is Sandra's nickname?" Walter asked, eyebrow raised, watching as Chloe began to braid her long hair.

"No, that's her real name, the name mom gave her," she said absently.

Penny frowned. "Your mother named her Sunshine Jordan?"

The woman laughed. "Jordan? No! We didn't have last names until the system got us."

Walter frowned. "And how exactly did the system get you?"

"We lived with mama and our dads-"

"Dads?" Penny asked.

"Yeah, we had many dads, they came and they left like the seasons of the year…" Chloe trailed off in a melodious tone. "We all lived on a farm away from the city and capitalism's vices in a true union with mother nature and its elements, but when we were seven years old, Child Protection Services arrived, claiming the farm wasn't an appropriate place for children and they took us away to live with an uncle who registered us as Chloe and Sandra Jordan… But unlike Sunshine, I never embraced the capitalist lifestyle and still prefer to be called by my original name, Drizzle."

"Okay Drizzle... so your sister isn't fond of your lifestyle?"

Drizzle laughed. "No, she was the one that called the Child Protection Services!"

"Wait…" Walter raised an eyebrow, glancing surreptitiously at Drizzle. "But you said you were seven years old!"

"She made a phone out of mama's old turntable." Drizzle laughed. "Sunshine had always been what you would call a genius, you know, if you consider the standards imposed by the system to measure intelligence."

"Alright," Penny said. They were running out of time. "But where can we find your sister?"

Drizzle snorted, grabbing a cigarette from her pocket. "She already transcended the mundane plane," she murmured, lighting the cigarette between her lips.

"What?"

"She died years ago," Drizzle said absently, playing with the smoke coming out of her lips. "Car accident," she explained.

"Fuck," Walter murmured under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck. It seemed that everyone involved in the Metempsychosis Project was either dead or missing. "We have evidence that your sister was involved with some illegal forms of technology. Do you know anything about that, Drizzle?" He asked.

The woman flipped her hair back and closed her eyes. "My sister and I were never exactly friends. Our auras didn't quite match." She opened her gray eyes. "Hers was more gray, while mine is purple, sometimes violet."

"So you don't know anything about your sister being involved with the interception or the building of illegal technology?" Penny pressed, looking fixedly at Drizzle's eyes.

Drizzle shrugged, lunching her shoulders. "She used to work at a place called lucidas-"

"Lucunditas," Penny interrupted.

"Yes Lucunditas! That was the name!" Drizzle threw her head back and began to laugh intensely. "But with the anti-humanization laws, she lost her job, and I don't know with what or for who she was working, but after that, Sunshine began to make a lot of money. We even had a disagreement about how capitalism would ruin her life eventually, but Sunshine didn't listen to me and after that we stopped talking to each other," Drizzle said, once again sternly, as she stared at the cigarette between her fingers.

"Do you remember anything else? Anything that can lead us to the people your sister was working for?" Walter inquired.

Drizzle bit her lip. "Once I heard her talking on the phone with some German guy," she said, leaning across the coffee table and watching Walter with a grin.

"Gunther?" Walter offered. It had to be Gunther. How many German people could be involved in this?

After a few moment of thoughtful consideration, Drizzle spoke again. "Yes, Gunther. That was his name."

"Anything else you remember that might be useful?" Walter asked.

"Nothing I can remember, like I said, Sunshine and I were too different," Drizzle dismissed.

"Alright then," Penny said, standing up and holding a hand out towards Drizzle. "Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Jordan, we'll keep in touch in case you remember anything else."

"Go in peace," said Drizzle, taking Penny's hand before turning her attention to Walter once more. "And you, Agent Anderson, take care. Your aura is beautiful, but orange is a color that always attracts danger."

 

**

**********************

**

Kurt was hyperventilating. He had never been in a room with so many people. The apartment was a little messy, but it was still kind of nice - hardwood floors, big windows that let in lots of light, and what seemed to be an access to a balcony near the kitchen. And it was clean, no bottles or clothes scattered around.

"Hey guys, this is Kurt." Blaine waved towards the crew seated on an old leather couch.

An Asian guy in dark jeans and a tornt-shirt which had some band on it pushed a tall guy with a Mohawk out of his way and, smiling, said, "Hey, I'm Mike." He held a hand out towards Kurt.

"Hi," Kurt murmured, shaking Mike's hand which were callused, and it kind of tickled.

"Kurt, you came!" Quinn squealed. The pink haired girl came out of the kitchen, accompanied by an unfamiliar blond girl, both holding bottles of green liquor in their hands.

"Hey Quinn." Kurt smiled, feeling a bit relieved at the sight of another familiar face. Quinn unexpectedly threw her arms around his neck, hugging Kurt tightly. "I'm so glad you could make it." She smiled, locks of her pink hair falling messily above her forehead. Her breath smelled like mint. She had been drinking.

"This over here is Brittany," she pointed to the girl at her side, whose hair was coiffed in a messy bun.

"You have pretty eyes," Britt said, pushing a loose lock of hair behind her ear.

"T-thank you." Kurt blushed "I like how you dyed your tips. It looks good on you," he complimented making the blond girl blush.

"Hey, hey don't get all flirty, she's already taken," A Latina girl with full red lips said, holding out a hand. Kurt gulped when the girl shook his hand more firmly than Mike had.

"I'm Santana," she said. "And you don't need piss your tight pants with fear, Kurt. I was kidding, and I don't intend to cause you harm."

"Well unless you touch her girl," said the Mohawk haired boy, snorting as he approached them. "I'm Puck, and that over there is Sam," He said, pointing to a blond guy sitting in the corner of the room, texting. "Now, if you excuse us, I was telling them about how I broke the school's lunch robot this afternoon, you know, to impress the ladies. And you kind of interrupted me, so if you don't mind..." Puck said and smiled, sitting on the edge of the couch, and pulling Quinn by her arm into his lap.

"So, I was there and-" He began to say, before Kurt interrupted him.

"Are you really bragging about breaking a robot?" Kurt gasped, his stomach dropping.

Puck shrugged. "Yeah," he said, not understanding the shocked expression on Kurt's face.

"That's cruelty," Kurt murmured, taking a step back.

"What are you talking about?" Puck stood up, pushing Quinn away from him. "Don't tell me you're one of those pro-Robot Rights freaks?"

Kurt felt his stomach burn. "Freaks? You are-" he started to say, before Blaine pulled his arm.

"Don't," Blaine murmured, looking into Kurt's eyes. "It's pointless."

Kurt freed his arm from Blaine's grip. "It's not pointless," He sneered looking fixedly at Puck.

"Hey dude, there's no need to be so damn worked out by it, robots are only things," Puck said and rolled his eyes.

Kurt was bewildered. "Says who?"

"Society! The fucking laws!" Puck scowled, tightening his grip on the bottle in his hand.

"You can't actually believe that," Kurt looked around, waiting for someone to differ and to take his side, but everyone, including Blaine, remained motionless.

"I thought, of all people you guys would be different," Kurt said with disappointment. He couldn't believe that even those who were considered underdogs were as closed mind as the rest of society. "Look at you, at your clothes! None of you fit in and you seem proud of it. That's exactly why you're here, probably the reason why you're friends! It's because society labeled you as freaks, weirdos. They exclude you, sometimes even deny you rights and equality! How can any of you use society's laws and norms as a fucking excuse to brutality, or to justify violence?" He sneered, not caring about how Puck was setting his jaw and approaching him with clenched fists at his sides. "You're not fucking better than those who once discriminated you."

Blaine stepped between them, pulling Kurt behind him and glaring at Puck. There was no way he was going let Puck touch Kurt. But ignoring how Blaine had positioned himself between them and how Quinn was gripping his arm, Puck kept glaring at Kurt.

"You know what Kurt?" He barked, tilting his head.

"What?" Kurt boldly retorted. No one pushed the Hummel's, especially someone whose hair seemed like a dead animal's.

"I like you." Puck grinned, catching everyone by surprise. "You may dress like a girl, but you have the balls to confront Puckzilla like that, and that's something I respect."

"Wait, what?" Blaine gasped. Because seriously, he had punched Puck in the face not that long ago, and now Kurt was the one with balls?

"What about the time I fucking punched you in the face, Puckzilla?" Blaine snapped.

"Well you kinda hit like a little girl, Anderson," Puck mocked.

"Oh yeah how about I-" Blaine snarled, but was interrupted by Quinn. She pulled him by his arm towards the kitchen.

"Calm down, B," she murmured, holding him against the kitchen wall.

"Did you hear that?" Blaine gritted his teeth. "He said I punch like a fucking girl."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "And you're being a fucking misogynistic asshole for taking that as an insult. Because when I was a little girl, I could totally kick your ass, Anderson," she retorted, winking.

"One day, I'm going kick your boyfriend's ass." Blaine crossed his arms over his chest.

"First of all, he's not my boyfriend," Quinn clarified. "And second, you already did kick his ass once, so calm down and focus on our plan."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Plan?"

Quinn smiled mischievously. "Discover what Kurt's up to," she said, turning around and opening Santana's refrigerator. She grabbed a bottle and a pair of red cups. "Now let's go," she said, walking towards the living room.

"Kurt!" She squealed. "Here, have a drink!" she offered him, filling a red cup.

Kurt looked at the cup Quinn was offering him. He never had drank anything alcoholic before, and honestly he didn't even know if alcohol had any affect on him.

"He doesn't want it," Blaine interjected taking the cup out of Quinn's hands. He knew why she was doing that, but looking at the way Kurt seemed hesitant, Blaine felt uncomfortable. And he wouldn't pressure, or let anyone pressure Kurt to do anything he didn't want to.

Mistaken by Blaine's care for disbelief, Kurt took the cup out of his hands. "Who said I don't want it?" He wasn't afraid of drinking, and he knew he could drink if he wanted to. Yeah, he had never been to a party or had ever socialized with more than one person around his age, but he could fit in here if he wanted to. This was a group of underdogs for god's sake!

"What you are about to drink is alcoholic, Kurt," Blaine explained, as Quinn looked at him, playfully biting a drink straw.

"I-I know," the android said, taking a deep breath before taking a sip. It tasted horrible. Sort of like mint, sugar and acetone. His first impulse was to spit it out, but then he looked at the way Blaine was staring him with eyebrow raised, and swallowed it down.

He could do this. He could be like Britt, laughing into her red cup or into someone else's mouth.

Music began to echo loudly, and Quinn threw her arms up, screaming that that was her song. Blaine laughed, while Kurt stood there motionless with the bad taste of alcohol in his mouth, not knowing what to do.

He was at the edge of a panic attack, when he felt someone digging their fingernails into his upper arm and turned around. "Don't think so much," Santana told him and winked. Kurt nodded, smiling weakly and breathed in through his nose. He turned around again and watched Blaine taking a red cup his hands. The older boy drank its contents at once and immediately seemed more relaxed.

Kurt took a deep breath and then another sip.

_He could do this._

 

**

**********************

**

"Eugene?" Artie asked, drowsily. "W-what are you doing?" He rubbed his eyes as the gray robot pulled him away from the computers.

"YOU NEED SOME REST," Eugene said, pushing Artie's wheelchair towards the living room.

"I can't, I-I have work to do." Artie yawned.

"I CAN DO IT FOR YOU. YOU NEED TO GET SOME REST," Eugene said sternly.

Artie smiled at that. "Sometimes you remember me so much of C-3PO," he murmured quietly, his chest aching with the memory of his first real friend.

Eugene titled his head to the side. "THE MOVIE CHARACTER?"

A sad smile ghosted the corners of Artie's lips. "No, an old friend of mine."

Eugene stopped dead in his tracks. "DOES THAT MEAN I AM YOUR FRIEND AS WELL?" he asked hesitantly.

Artie chuckled "Of course you are!"

"ARTIE SHOULD LET EUEGENE HELP YOU THEN, AFTER ALL, FRIENDS HELP EACH OTHER," Eugene concluded, and Artie could swear that if the robot could, he would be smiling.

"I guess can't argue with that." Artie shrugged, wheeling towards his room. "Goodnight, 'Gene."

"GOODNIGHT ARTIE." Eugene waved before going back to the lab.

"I HAVE A FRIEND," the robot murmured happily to himself, sitting in front of Artie's computer and titling his head to the side in order to plug a cable to the base of his metallic skull.

 

**

**********************

**

"Oh my God, Brittany's taking her clothes off!" Kurt gasped, tightening his grip on the cup in his hands

Blaine muffled a chuckle. "Well, she kinda does that when she gets drunk," He explained, looking at how the blond girl tried to remove her t-shirt with a red plastic cup in her hand

Blaine sat beside Kurt on the old couch, so close that the android could feel his warmth, but not close enough for their shoulders to touch. "By the way, how are you not drunk? I mean even Puck's drunk! I'm drunk and look at you! not drunk at all!" Blaine inquired, unbelievably.

"Not drunk?"Kurt mocked. "You mean sober?"

"Oh shut up," Blaine murmured, bumping his shoulder against Kurt's. "But seriously, how?" he cried, his cheeks flushed and his hair messier than usual.

Kurt chuckled. Well apparently, he couldn't get drunk, and maybe in the future that would be something he would be bitter about, but right now? The android couldn't be having more fun watching Blaine's drunken frustration, the way the older boy just couldn't wrap his head around the fact he couldn't take two steps without falling on the ground while Kurt remained completely sober.

"I guess I have a high tolerance to alcohol," Kurt said a little smugly before Quinn's squeals caught his attention. "Wait-Oh my God, now Sam's taking his clothes off," he shrieked, his voice higher than usual, blushing crimson red as Sam did something with his hips that just couldn't be legal. Seriously, even Santana was screaming.

"You have to admit that it's a better view than Brittany…" Blaine laughed, before his features were suddenly overtaken by a serious expression. "Unless you actually are into girls and I'm jumping to conclusions here…" he murmured, almost as if he was talking to himself, not really looking in Kurt's direction, but at the bottle in his hands.

Blaine looked up, right into Kurt's eyes. "Am I jumping to conclusions?" He asked, his voice low, with a feeling Kurt couldn't quite describe flashing in his hazel eyes, it was almost as if Blaine was afraid of the answer.

Kurt gulped.

The answer bubbled up from deep inside of him and it escaping between his lips in an unexpected rush, leaving him bare and throbbing. "No, you aren't jumping to conclusions," Kurt said, surprising himself with the honesty of his answer.

A year ago he noticed his attention wasn't exactly caught by Kate Hudson or Anne Hathaway during his romantic movie marathons. Instead, his eyes kind of stayed on Matthew McConaughey's abs and arms a little too long, and once, Kurt actually paused the movie to look at them more properly. But of course, it was because of a noble reason. He could of sworn he saw a birth mark somewhere, and he just wanted to be sure it wasn't cancer or anything like that, or at least that was what Kurt told himself over and over again as he stared at Matthew McConaughey's abs for at least 20 minutes. The only reason he stopped was because Burt entered the room, and Kurt almost had a heart attack. He had screamed,"I was only making sure the birth mark wasn't some sign of cancer!" And that lead them to an, "its okay if you want to look at boys' bodies, Kurt" conversation, that ended with Burt assuring Kurt that his only obligation was to be who he was, and that Burt's job was to love him no matter what.

And without feeling guilty about looking at Matthew McConaughey's abs anymore, Kurt began to look to Jake Gyllenhaal's, Chris Evans's, and suddenly he was developing an odd fascination for Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr… So yes, Kurt was gay and yes, he had also never kissed a boy. Above all that, he was this silly romantic who dreamed about a Disney Prince serenading him… But who knows? Maybe someday he'd find someone who wanted to serenade him, and luckily, this person would have McConaughey's job, or at least Robert Downey Jr's charm.

"I-I'm gay," Kurt said, rolling the word inside of his mouth. It felt good to say that out loud to someone who wasn't his father, to someone he knew that wouldn't judge him at all.

Blaine looked at him, flashing him an unexpected warm smile that was kind of adorable, because he slightly crinkled his nose. "Well, you're in the right fucking place Hummel, we're almost like a gay-straight alliance here," he said, holding a bottle out towards Kurt.

Kurt chuckled. Santana crossed the room, holding an empty bottle in her hands. She climbed on the coffee table, hauling herself on her unsteady feet. "What's Santana doing?" The android rose an eyebrow, because really? Was Santana going to take her clothes off too? What was wrong with these people, why couldn't they just keep their clothes on?

Blaine shrugged. "Oh, she's probably gonna sing sad songs… she kinda does that when she gets drunk, when, you know, she's not crying," He murmured dramatically, mimicking Santana's crying face. Kurt chuckled at that, and something warm spread through Blaine's chest at sight of the other boy's dimples.

Blaine looked away, shaking his head slightly and not really understanding what was wrong with him. He cleared his throat. "I bet it's gonna be Amy Winehouse," Blaine guessed, holding a hand up.

_"He left no time to regret…"_ Santana began to sing, and Kurt looked at Blaine, his eyes widened.

Blaine grinned. "Santana loves Amy Winehouse."

Kurt looked at Santana and noticed how she danced gently to the melody of the song, while still holding her voice steady. Even though she was completely wasted, Santana still sounded like a goddess. "Wow, she can really sing," he murmured, impressed.

Enjoying his friend's voice, and involuntarily leaning against Kurt's shoulder, Blaine murmured, "One of the best voices around here," and closed his eyes.

"One of the best?" Kurt looked at Blainewith his eyebrows furrowed. "How many of you can sing?" He asked, genuinely curious.

Blaine ran a hand through his curls. "Well, I guess all of us, except Mike. I've never heard him singing," he considered, trying to remember if he'd ever heard Mike singing or not.

Kurt glared at him unbelievably. "That means you can sing?" he gasped, not even trying to hide his surprise.

"Don't give me that look, Ice Queen! I used to be the male lead of the Glee club!" Blaine retorted, as if he was actually offended by Kurt's disbelief.

Kurt was still looking at Blaine as if the boy had grown a third head, because really? Blaine Anderson? Blaine I'm-a-badass-because-I-wear-a-leather-jacket Anderson in Glee club, as in singing and dancing? Kurt just couldn't picture that. "You're kidding, right?"

Blaine rolled his eyes, leaning closer to Kurt.

" _All I really wanna do is love you_

_A kind much closer than friends use_

_But I still can't say it after all we've been through"_

_He sung, fixing his gaze on Kurt's blue eyes._

_"And all I really want from you is to feel me_

_As the feeling inside keeps building…"_

Blaine closed his eyes for the slightest second before opening them again, looking at Kurt with much more intensity. His bright hazel eyes were taking the android's breath away as he looked into them.

_"And I will find a way to you if it kills me_

_If it kills me_

_If it kills me…"_

Blaine let out a little chuckle at the way Kurt blushed. 

_"It might kill me…"_

 

**

**********************

**

The silence of Tina's apartment was interrupted by the buzzing of her cellphone. She opened her eyes. It was still dark. "Good," she thought, standing liked to work at night. Yawning, she checked her messages and walked towards the living room.

The computer screen was flashing with several codes.

She put music on and stretching a hair band between three fingers, she twisted her brown hair through the loop, tying it up in a ponytail. "Let's do this," she murmured to herself, checking her phone one last time before sitting in front of the computer and beginning to type.

After some minutes of frantic typing, Tina frowned.

There was something wrong.

"Another center of processing connected to… _What the fuck?_ " she cursed, typing faster.

"C'mon…C'mon," she bit her lip as her eyebrows furrowed together.

And then screen went blank. Tina fell back in her chair, unable to breathe. She clenched her fists beside the keyboard. But soon, more codes started filling the screen. She had made it.

Tina let out a sigh of relief and shut the computer down. As she stared at her reflection in the computer's black screen, it sent a pang of guilt through her, but Tina didn't cry, she couldn't cry, so she gritted her teeth and stood up.

She was doing what she had to. And repeated that to herself over and over again together with the 3 different antidepressants she took, was what allowed the girl to fall asleep at night.

 

**

**********************

**

 

"You can really sing," Kurt whispered. His eyes were wide, and his face was red.

Blaine grinned widely. "I can really sing," he laughed, taking another sip out of the bottle in his hands.

Leaving the now empty bottle beside the couch, Blaine ran a hand through his messy curls before looking up at Kurt. "We should get out of here," He said, reaching up and slipping his hand into Kurt's.

Kurt could feel his face heating up at the feeling of Blaine's calloused palm against his. The android swallowed. "Wait, w-what?"

"Let's go the balcony and watch the stars!" Blaine grinned widely as he stood up, still holding Kurt's hand.

"Wait what?" Kurt stood in front of Blaine, his eyebrow raised. "Blaine! What are you doing?"

"Dragging you to the balcony," Blaine teased, pulling Kurt towards the balcony.

"It's freezing outside, Blaine," Kurt whispered, trying not to attract attention to the fact that Blaine was pulling him to an empty part of Santana's apartment.

Blaine frowned. "No- Just come here." He tugged at Kurt's hand, his grip tightening, and eyebrows knitting together. "It's nice, I promise. You'll see."

Kurt looked at the expression on Blaine's face and considered pulling him towards the living room again, back to the couch where there wasn't any risk of the older boy stumbling on his feet and falling flat on his face, which was what would probably end up happening if Blaine kept walking at that pace. But Kurt didn't. He didn't stop Blaine. He let the older boy drag him onto the balcony.

"See? isn't it beautiful?" Blaine grinned, pointing to the starry sky.

Kurt looked up, ignoring that the cold air practically burnt his skin. He couldn't help but feel amazed. It was beautiful.

Blaine sat on the ground. Well, Kurt wasn't sure if the boy had sat down, or if he had fallen on his butt. But Blaine pulled Kurt down with him. Kurt smiled, letting himself fall onto the step next to Blaine, and Blaine chuckled, making a delighted little sound before laying his head on Kurt's shoulder. He tangled their hands together and placed them between their touching thighs.

It was kind of funny and sad that the first time a boy had ever held his hand happened like this. This probably didn't mean anything to Blaine, He was drunk. Tomorrow, when the older boy was back in his right mind, he would go back to calling Kurt an "ice queen", and other names like that. But even knowing that, Kurt couldn't bring himself to let go of Blaine's hand, and he couldn't even explain why.

It could be because of the cold, or perhaps alcohol did affect him a bit. Maybe Kurt just couldn't believe that someone would ever hold his hand like that, so he wanted enjoy the moment. Instead of letting go, Kurt held Blaine's hand tighter.

Blaine rolled his head on Kurt's shoulder in order to look up at the sky. "My brother used to love stars."

Kurt smiled.

"My dad always said that my mother loved stars. He told me once that she had a tattoo of a star on her wrist," Kurt said, his blue eyes fixed on the starry sky. "She loved stars, and I think she was trying to be rebellious, or something like that. Because she always had been this shy, well behaved small town girl, and then when she went to college, she decided to get a tattoo… My dad said that the original plan was a full constellation, but she only got a small, blue star." He finished.

"You know why Cooper loved stars?" Blaine inquired, slurring slightly. "Because he said that one day he would become one."

"I guess he kind of did, in the end, right?" Blaine whispered, cuddling closer to Kurt. He reached up as if he wanted to touch the sky.

Kurt felt warmth spreading through him from the places where their bodies were touching. "You sang really well," He said. "Maybe one day, you'll become a star and make your brother proud."

Blaine flashed him a sad smile. "Thanks."

"For what?" Kurt rose and eyebrow.

"Just, thanks," Blaine murmured, before beginning to hum a random tune.

Blaine's hair tickled Kurt's chin, and the android smiled. He closed his eyes, the smell of hair gel in his nose, and the velvety sound of Blaine's voice echoing in the air. This was a once in a lifetime experience. Being able to see this side of Blaine Anderson, how he got all cuddly, and oddly open.

When Blaine stopped humming, Kurt opened his eyes, and, looking down, he saw two pools of hazel staring at him.

His breath was caught in his throat. "B-Blaine?" Kurt murmured, blinking in a way he thought was probably unattractive.

"But y-you're the Ice Queen," Blaine whispered, mostly to himself, utterly confused, as if he didn't recognize Kurt. "H-how?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about-" Kurt tried to say, before feeling Blaine's cold fingertips caressing his cheek.

Blaine looked so beautiful, his messy curls falling in his forehead, cheeks flushed, his golden brown eyes shining so brightly...

Kurt was shaken out of his thoughts and out of the pattern of Blaine's fingertips and the feeling of the boy's hot breath against his lips by a voice from the door. "Hi - Hey, oh... hi," Sam said, shirtless and clearly wasted.

Kurt immediately felt exposed, like he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.

"I totally forgot what I was going to do here..." Sam murmured, his cheeks red with embarrassment. "S-sorry… I'm just gonna go inside again," he added, looking increasingly awkward when both Kurt and Blaine couldn't figure out what to say.

"Oh, I'm going inside too," Blaine blurted out, pushing Kurt away. "I-I think I heard Quinn calling me," he said, before standing up with a certain amount of difficultly.

Kurt looked up and felt an immediate flush of anger and embarrassment as Blaine seemed to make a point to not look at him. The android's skin tingled. He clenched his fists at his sides, setting his jaw. Blaine was acting as if he was embarrassed? Embarrassed by what? Nothing had happened. _Nothing_. And if anything had happened, the one with the right to feel embarrassed was Kurt, because of the fact that he had allowed someone like Blaine get close to him. And that wasn't something Kurt Hummel would let happen.

"I'm going inside too. I actually don't even know why I let Blaine drag me out here in the first place. It's too cold," Kurt said, standing up, looking pointedly away from Blaine as he slouched his shoulders, crossed his arms over his chest and walked away.

Kurt couldn't believe that even for a second he had actually thought that Blaine was cute.

Maybe alcohol did affect him after all.

 

**

**********************

**

Artie was awoken by a loud alarm echoing in the darkness of his apartment. He jerked up and searched for his glasses. "E-eugene?" he drowsily murmured, positioning his wheelchair near his bed. "What's going on?"

The alarm ringing was a very specific kind of alarm, the kind of alarm that rang only if someone was trying to get into his computer, which was pretty much impossible, Artie was sure of it. Eugene must have inadvertently triggered it, after all, he was the most famous hacker in the country. There was no way someone could break into his security system.

Or at least that was what Artie thought until he pushed the doors of his lab open, and found Eugene lying on the ground, like a broken, lifeless, doll. His was arm bent behind his back, and his neck was twisted to the side. He was still plugged into Artie's computer.

Artie's mouth went dry. His heart dropped, and his eyes were filled with tears. This couldn't be happening! His security system was perfect. It couldn't be-

A broken cry echoed between the hacker's lips. "Eugene!"

He rushed to his friend's side.

It was just like C-3PO all over again.

 

_**TBC....** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Music Blaine sung in this episode was. If it Kills me by Jason Marz ->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBBMNJPk5qo


	16. In another life

"I'm so sleepy…" Penny yawed, rubbing her eyes as Walter parked in front of her house. "See you tomorrow, Walter!" she smiled and grabbed her purse from the back seat.

"See you, Penny," he said, before his cell phone began to buzz.

"What is it now?" Walter grunted, picking up his phone. He wanted to go home and sleep. Who could be calling at such a time? "Penny, wait! It's Artie!" He grabbed his partner's wrist.

Artie wouldn't call without a good reason, especially at this time of night. Something must've happened.

Penny sat down and closed the door behind her, watching as Walter spoke with Artie.

"What? Your computer? B-but how?" exclaimed Walter, looking perplexed.

"What happened?" Penny asked.

Walter held his hand up.

"Alright… No, don't worry, we're heading to your house in a bit…. Alright, see you…" Walter put his phone back into the pocket of his trench coat. "What happened?" Penny asked anxiously.

Walter pressed his lips in a thin line, clenching onto the wheel. "Someone broke into Artie's computer, and apparently, Eugene got damaged in the process…" he explained, staring the engine.

"What?" Penny exclaimed, almost hissing. Artie was supposed to be the best; everyone thought of him as the best, that was what the all the files and lists in the FDTC's reports said. The hacker community treated him like some sort of Yoda… "How?" she cried in disbelief.

"Well, that's what we are about to find out," Walter murmured, his hazel eyes fixed on the road.

************************

Sitting on Santana's couch, Kurt looked down at the empty cup red cup in his hands. The party had ended a long time ago and he was waiting for Blaine to sober up so that they could head home. Quinn had already left with Puck. Brittany was staying over and apparently Sam was too, who was pretty much passed out on the floor. Mike was sitting across the room, talking to Blaine, and they both were holding mugs of black coffee that Santana had made for them.

Kurt felt bad. There was this empty feeling in his stomach and this bitter taste inside of his mouth. He knew he should be at least a little proud of himself, after all this was his first party and well, he hadn't had a panic attack or gotten disturbingly drunk to the point of vomiting on someone-actually, he hadn't gotten drunk at all-, but still, Kurt couldn't get rid of the gloomy feeling overtaking him.

He just couldn't wrap his head around what had happened on Santana's balcony. For one moment, he actually thought Blaine was going to kiss him, but then Sam showed up and Blaine began to act all weird, as if he was ashamed of what could have happened. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but Kurt had hoped for more than this, for more than rejection and the vague sense of shame simmering inside of him.

He never thought of himself as gorgeous, and he definitely didn't have Sam's abs or Mike's legs, but he wasn't that bad… And he dressed fabulously, didn't he? So why did Blaine keep ignoring him, making it a point to stay at certain distance, as if Kurt had some contagious illness? That stung, and not only a bit, but a lot, especially because Kurt wasn't human, at least not by the biological definition of the word and ever since he had discovered that, all his dreams of finding a prince charming began to seem more and more like childish fantasies, things that would never become reality.

After all, who would want to know what he was? He was an illegal form of technology, and knowing what he was and associating with him was against the law. And if boys were already feeling ashamed of being close to him while they thought he was human, there was no way someone would ever want him after knowing the truth.

He looked up and met Blaine's eyes. The boy was staring at him with an expression Kurt could only describe as "uncomfortable".

Kurt looked away, trying to avoid showing how he was feeling. He wondered how Blaine would look at him if he knew the truth, and he couldn't stop the word "freak" from echoing inside of his head.

He crushed the red cup in his hands.

Kurt had never hated being an android as he did at that moment.

************************

Artie's hands were shaking. He couldn't type.

He looked down at Eugene who was lying on the bench, at the way he was shaking and trembling…

Artie couldn't stop shaking.

There were stabbing pains in his chest, and lumps in his throat suffocating him. His lab seemed to be moving, blurred by tears. He couldn't even describe this feeling. He felt so much guilt spreading throughout his body. How he could be so arrogant? Thinking he was so good and that no one would ever be able to break into his security system. God, he was so stupid.

Another crisis of violent throws overtook Eugene's metallic body.

Artie clenched his fists tightly, trying to gain control of his hands again. He needed to stop shaking. It didn't matter if the muscles of his hands were already sore or if he could barely feel his fingertips after having desperately tried to reestablish Eugene's system for the past half hour. He needed to fix Eugene.

He had to.

Eugene was his friend.

He heard footsteps entering the room. A hand gripped his shoulder.

"Oh my God, Artie!" Someone shouted at him. He looked up. Penny's eyes were wide and she was standing beside him, her hand clenching his shoulder and the other covering her mouth as she looked down at Eugene.

"W-what happened?" Walter asked.

"Someone hacked my computer," Artie managed to get out before being interrupted by another of Eugene's metallic cries.

"I-I've been trying to reestablish his system…" Artie gritted his teeth. "B-but he keeps restarting and then shutting off again… I-I just-" Artie choked, sobbing. He was losing control of himself. It was just like what had happened to C3PO once again, he wouldn't be able to do a thing. This time it wouldn't be his mother fault, but his because he just couldn't control his hands!

"You're going to make it," Penny assured him, squeezing his shoulder.

"And we'll be here with you," Walter said, grabbing a chair and sitting beside Artie. He placed a hand above Artie's and suddenly, the boy stopped shuddering. "You can do this, Artie," Walter said to him calmly.

Artie closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He could do this.

************************

Eugene's sensors were fuzzy. The flashing red lights and the echoing alarm that crippled his functions and had swallowed him into an inky darkness seemed to be gone but there was this blinding blue light piercing through him which was going to the back of his mind.

He felt disconnected from his sensorial functions.

But this light's just so bright.

Out of instinct, Eugene tried to raise his hands to block the light. But he couldn't, his arms felt too heavy, as if his joints weren't functioning properly.

Little by little, the environment around him began to gain some shape.

There were shadows above him.  
 _What were they?_

_Where was he?_

Eugene's scans couldn't tell.

"E…ge…" He heard a feminine voice. But it didn't make sense, it seemed too distant. His hearing sensors were still adjusting.

He felt a small spasm in his left hand. He clenched it and felt warm fingers tangled in his. They were soft, small, human fingers.

_"Eugene?"_

_"Oh my God, you did it, Artie!"_

_"He's back!"_

Suddenly, there was a heavy weight on his upper body. It seemed as if someone was supporting themselves on him. They were trembling and their sobs echoing through Eugene's metal surface. The Robot felt something wet on him, and trembling hands gripped at his sides as arms encircled him around the middle.

Someone was hugging him.

 _Funny_ , He thought. No one had ever hugged him before.

Eugene finally gained enough strength to raise his hand and place it above the weight on his torso. He tangled his fingers in short locks of soft brown hair.

His sensors adjusted and his vision become less blurry.

A pair of glassy blue eyes looked up at him. "Genie?"

'Artie.' The name echoed inside of his mind.

_Star Wars manic._

_Cries when watching sad movies._

_Addicted to red vines._

_**Friend. ******_

If he could, Eugene would have smiled. "H-HELLO ARTIE," his metallic voice echoed, a little rusty. Artie looked up and smiled with the widest smile the robot had ever seen.

************************

Blaine pointed to the bed. "Where do you wanna-"

"You can have the bed," Kurt cut in. He didn't look up. His eyes were focused on his shoes as he untied them, but Blaine didn't miss the way the android had shifted uneasily.

Blaine gulped, trying to keep his face expressionless. "Are you sure? I mean, I can-"

Despite the weariness Kurt felt tugging at his limbs, the android still managed to put his bitchiest face on. "And break one of your precious rules? I don't think so," He said, his voice sharp and his blue eyes cold.

Kurt just couldn't help it, even if Blaine was actually trying to be nice to him. He didn't care. He was too tired to care. He didn't want Blaine's pity, not now, not after the other boy had made a point of spent the whole night treating Kurt as if he something to be ashamed off.

"As you wish, Ice Queen." Blaine gritted his teeth, trying to keep his voice steady. Kurt wasn't the only one choking on feelings he didn't understand.

Kurt sighed. They were back to the offensive nicknames stage. Great, the android considered, and this time in a non-sarcastic way. He knew how to deal with that, with Blaine being a jerk, and it wasn't confusing and surprisingly it didn't make him feel half as bad as it should have.

"I'm gonna take a shower. Don't turn the lights off," Kurt murmured tiredly as he stood up and grabbed his shoes.

"Okay." Blaine nodded before licking his lips.

Kurt felt as if he was being punched in the stomach. He quickly turned his back to Blaine and left the room. He refused to think about how hours ago he actually thought we would have happily had those lips against his.

"God," Kurt hissed under his breath as he closed the bathroom door behind him. "I'm so stupid."

************************

When Walter returned to his apartment, it was 4 in the morning. He spent practically the whole night at Artie's place, not leaving until the hacker made sure Eugene's system had been reestablished.

It was stressful and exhausting. More than once, Eugene would gain some consciousness, only to shut off again a few seconds later, and even if he and Penny didn't do anything besides give Artie moral support and occasionally hand him something, it was still a tiring experience.

Watching Eugene tremble and convulse like that… Walter knew that in theory, robots like Eugene didn't have sensors which allowed them to feel pain, but they also weren't supposed to develop emotions, and Eugene was a sweetheart, so Walter couldn't shake off the feeling that Eugene was experiencing excruciating pain as he struggled to keep functioning.

So yeah, Walter was exhausted. The past 24 hours had been a roller coaster for him. First, fighting with Blaine, then interrogating Drizzle and finally helping Artie and trying to keep Penny from having a panic attack as she burst into tears on their way back from Artie's, saying she would quit the FDTC and that she just couldn't keep doing what she did when there were robots like Eugene and Kurt out there… And he agreed with her. Even though he had to pay Barbara's allowance and two hypothecs, he also would quit and probably join some pro-robot rights movement.

Sighing, Walter supported himself against the kitchen sink after drinking a cup of water. "How's this become my life?" He murmured to himself, before yawning and turning the kitchen light off. Every single muscle in Walter's body ached, and he could barely keep his hazel eyes open.

Crossing the living room as he headed to his bedroom, Walter chuckled at the sight of Penny curled up on his couch. She had accompanied him upstairs to get a few files that she would need to finish some reports, but in the minute it had taken Walter to go to his room and get the papers, the ginger girl had fallen asleep on his couch.

And Walter just couldn't bring himself to wake her up. Penny was pouting, and kind of wrinkling her freckled nose at the locks of ginger hair that had fallen on her face. Waking her up when she was sleeping so peacefully would have been just too mean, and Walter was too tired to drive her home anyway. So he put some blankets on top of her, a pillow under her head, and turned the living room's lights off.

Walter didn't want to do anything but collapse in his bed and sleep for a week, but he stopped by the boys' room to check up on them. He slightly opened the door and caught a glimpse of Kurt curled up in the futon.

I really need to buy another bed, he thought. That futon seemed very uncomfortable. He looked to the bed and surprisingly, Blaine was still awake, staring at the roof.

"Hey," Walter murmured, catching Blaine attention. "Is everything alright?" he whispered.

"Y-yeah," his son answered. He didn't sound convincing.

Walter frowned. "Are you sure?"

Blaine nodded.

"A-and are we alright?" Walter asked tentatively, as he searched for Blaine's eyes in the darkness. He knew this wasn't the time or the place to have this conversation, but he still needed Blaine to say something, anything. He just felt so bad for how things had ended between them the previous morning.

"I guess," Blaine murmured, lunching his shoulders.

And well, that a start wasn't it?

"Alright then." Walter nodded, smiling slightly.

"'Night, son," He murmured before closing the bedroom door behind him carefully and heading to his room.

************************

Kurt awoke the next morning shivering a little, despite the amount of blankets piled on top of him. His pillow was still a little wet from his wet hair last night. Exhausted, he had collapsed on his futon without even bothering to dry it properly. He rolled around in the futon, fixing his blue eyes at the single bed across the room.

It was empty.

Ignoring the small twinge he felt in his chest, Kurt got out of the bed.

He brushed his teeth and took a good look at himself in the mirror. His eyes were slightly red, and his face was completely white. He was a mess. Even his hair seemed to have decided have a bad day. Sighing, Kurt washed his face and tried to coif his hair. In the end, it didn't look as flawless as usual, but it was the best he could manage to do.

He opened the door. There stood Penny, staring back at him with drowsy eyes through locks of messy red hair. And well, that was quite unexpected. He hadn't even noticed when Walter had arrived home, but he definitely wasn't expecting Penny to have spent the night.

"Hey Kurt…" The ginger woman yawned.

"Hey Penny," He answered, an eyebrow raised. "Did you spend the night here?"

"Yeah, I fell asleep on the couch while Walter was grabbing some papers. It was pretty late when we arrived." She turned the faucet on and washed her face. "Do you guys have an extra toothbrush?" she asked, grabbing a towel.

"Third drawer," Kurt answered, standing in front the door of the bathroom. "What kept you out so late? Did you guys discover something?"

"Is the name Sandra Jordan familiar to you?" Penny asked, squeezing the toothpaste tube and putting some on her toothbrush.

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Should I?"

"Apparently, she was involved in your building," Penny said, brushing her teeth. She leant over and took a sip of water. "We think she was the responsible for the development of your skin and tissues."

Kurt gasped. "Did you find her? Did you talk to her?" he asked anxiously.

"No, she's dead." Penny sighed "But we talked to her sister, a really weird hippie who kept complimenting Walter's aura…" She rolled her eyes and made a face.

Kurt chuckled knowingly. "Oh really?"

"Oh yeah, she kept saying Walter's aura was orange and that orange was a really beautiful color…" Penny's simmering brown eyes indicated her annoyance. "But do you think she made any comment about my aura?"

Kurt opened his mouth but before he had the chance to answer, Penny spoke again. "She didn't! And you know what? I have an awesome aura! Believe me, I looked it up on the internet." Penny held her toothbrush up in the air.

When Kurt just chuckled lightly and ducked his and nodded, Penny sighed. "I'm serious! That hippie's up to something!"

"Alright, alright." Kurt nodded. "So besides the fact that the woman who made my skin is dead and that her twin hippie sister totally digs Walter's orange aura, did you found out anything else?"

"We didn't get anything else… Also, Sandra knew Gunther." Penny supported her weight against the sink. "But then something really bad happened… Artie's computer was hacked."

"What?" Kurt gasped. "B-but I thought that Artie was like, the best damn hacker in the country!"

Penny shrugged. "We thought that too, but apparently there's someone even better out there because someone managed to break into Artie's computer and steal every single file Artie had stored, damaging Eugene who was connected to the computer in the process."

Kurt frowned. "Eugene?"

"Oh, you didn't meet him! He's a robot. Artie took him in after some brats damaged his center of processing..." Penny trailed off, her lips parted. The image of Eugene on that bench filled her mind.

"He's really sweet and I felt really, really bad seeing him like that. It was heartbreaking." Penny took a deep breath and looked up into Kurt's eyes. "I'm quitting work at the FTDC after we find out who built you, and Walter told me he's going to the same."

Kurt didn't know what to say to that. He felt torn. He was incredibly happy because Penny and Walter wouldn't be working for the division that destroyed and confiscated robots like him anymore, but at same time Kurt couldn't help but feel this small twinge of guilt. Not because Penny and Walter were planning on quitting their jobs, well, that was part of it too, but due the fact it wasn't until then that Kurt actually thought about the existence of others like him. Abstractly, he knew that there were others out there, but it wasn't until he saw Penny moved by another robot that these "others" became something much more solid, not only an theoretical concept that sometimes made him feel less alone.

There were others out there. There were other robots that were being attacked for fun by spoiled brats. Robots who had feelings but were forced to hide them.

The guilt rose in the form of a painful lump in his throat, and Kurt felt his eyes water a bit. "Really?"

"Yes." Penny nodded. She took a deep breath before speaking again. "I just can't keep doing this… no matter how much they pay me. I can't do this damn job after meeting you and Eugene… And the others Eugene and Kurts that are out there? I want to be there for them as well, and I can't do that while working for the FDTC."

"Thank you, Penny," Kurt said. He just didn't know what to say besides that, so he repeated it again. "Thank you so much," he murmured, as if saying it once couldn't possibly express his gratitude.

************************

Walter was boiling water for instant coffee when his son crossed the hallway in a rush.

"Blaine?" Walter raised an eyebrow, unpacking some frozen waffles.

Blaine stopped dead in his tracks, and Walter was quite sure he had heard the boy swearing before turning around and meeting his eyes. "Hey Walter..." The boy greeted. Walter noticed Blaine had his car keys in his left hand.

"Going somewhere?" Walter asked as he put the waffles in the toaster.

"I'm gonna have breakfast at Brittany's…" Blaine lied bluntly, avoiding meeting Walter's eyes. He wasn't going to Brittany's. Britt was at Santana's place. He just wanted to get out of that house before he was forced to face Kurt.

"Right." Walter nodded, cleaning his hands on his baby blue apron. "You're not trying to avoid me, right? Because we definitely need to talk about what happened… I-I just want to make things work between us…" he trailed off, looking at his son.

Blaine looked at his shoes. "I'm not avoiding you," he said. It wasn't a lie. He was avoiding Kurt. Sure, there were a lot of unsolved things between him and his dad, but right now he just wanted get away from Kurt and from the glimpses of hurt he saw in the boy's eyes, and the dejected lump on his shoulders only perceptible through the cracks of his Ice queen facade.

"So breakfast at Brittany's, huh?" Walter murmured. He was giving Blaine space. Walter himself sometimes needed that, to breathe a little and put his thoughts in order. It worked for him when he wanted to put things in perspective, and maybe that was what Blaine wanted. Something was going on, Walter could tell that, but to pressure Blaine to open up to him, it wouldn't work. They weren't close enough. Blaine didn't trust Walter enough. Asking a bunch of questions would only make Blaine even more uncomfortable around him. So Walter would trust his son. He would trust that Blaine wasn't going to do anything stupid, and would pretend he believed his "breakfast at Brittany's" story.

"Yeah," Blaine said, his eyebrows furrowed in slight surprise by his father behavior. "I heard Penny's voice… did she sleep here last night?" Blaine inquired, standing in the doorway.

"Yeah." Walter nodded, preparing a mug of black coffee. "We worked late last night and she ended up falling asleep on the couch, and I just couldn't wake her up."

"Really?" Blaine smirked.

"Yeah," Walter said and at the look on Blaine's face, frowned. "Wait- why're you making that face?"

Blaine shrugged "I'll just go, I'm already late so…" He trailed off, turning his back to his father. He was still smirking.

"Alright…See you later," Walter called out, as he put the waffles that had just popped out onto plates.

Just as Walter began to smear butter and syrup on the waffles, Penny and Kurt entered the kitchen.

"Was that Blaine leaving?" Penny asked, supporting herself against kitchen table.

"Yep." Walter nodded, handing her a mug of coffee. "He went to Brittany's," Walter explained, missing the hurt expression on Kurt's face.

But Penny didn't. She frowned and took a sip of coffee.

_What was going on?_

************************

Settled on the old futon, Kurt didn't even bother pretending that he was reading the Vogue issue that Penny had bought him. He was just so tired, not only physically but emotionally as well. It was actually quite ironic, but only after what happened, well, after what didn't happened on Santana's balcony, that Kurt realized what he probably would never have. Kissing, holding hands, romance... Who would want to do that with him? He was an android, and no matter what Artie could come up, Kurt's system was nothing but a replication of a human body.

And it took someone to be ashamed of being caught almost kissing him while still thinking he was a human for Kurt understand that.

"Are you busy?" Penny's voice brought Kurt back from his thoughts. He looked up to see the woman's ginger head poking through the doorway.

"Not really," he said with a sigh. "I thought you were leaving?"

"I was… but first I want to talk to you. You seem a bit gloomy today," she said, sitting on the floor beside the futon. "Did something happen?"

Kurt looked away from her worried glaze, shifting uncomfortably. Should he talk to her about the way he was feeling? He knew Penny was probably going to try to cheer him up, and change his mind, but was there really an argument that could change the fact that he was an android and that having any kind of relationship with him would not only be seen by society as bad but also illegal?

"If I tell you something, promise me you won't tell anyone, not even Walter?" He murmured quietly.

"Of course!" Penny exclaimed, nodding. "You can tell me anything!"

"Blaine almost kissed me last night," Kurt said evenly, but with a subtle undercurrent of sadness.

"During Quinn's movie marathon?" Penny gasped, her eyes wide.

Kurt sighed. "There was no movie marathon, Penny." He flopped back onto his pillows with a slight huff. "We went to a party and Blaine got pretty wasted and then he almost kissed me…"

Penny frowned. "Did he force himself on you…? Is that why you're gloomy? Did Blaine disrespect you, Kurt?"

"No, no, it's not like that…" Kurt sat up, supporting his chin on his knee. "It's just that Sam interrupted us, and then Blaine left and has been ignoring me ever since."

"Oh honey, maybe he was just embarrassed… It's normal," Penny offered, trying to make Kurt feel better.

Kurt snorted. "I know exactly why he was embarrassed. He was embarrassed of being caught almost kissing someone like me."

"Kurt, you're gorgeous," Penny interjected

"Yeah right," Kurt murmured sulkily.

"K-Kurt-"

"You don't get it Penny," Kurt snapped, cutting in with surprising heat. "Boys are already embarrassed of being seeing with me while they think I'm human. Do you really think anyone will want me if they know I'm an android?" He inquired, lifting his face.

Their eyes locked and Penny felt a twinge of sadness inside her chest. "Kurt…"

"I've always been this silly romantic, I dreamt of walking hand in hand with boy, slow dancing, and kissing in the rain just like in the Notebook…" Kurt trailed off as Penny watched his face slowly morph into something not as sharp, but exponentially more painful. "But tell me, Penny, who'll want to do any of that with a robot?" He concluded, looking away from her, his voice soothing after all the anger of before.

Penny dropped her arms and stared at Kurt in sheer disbelief. "You'll find someone," she stated. She knew it was a fact. Kurt deserved that kind of happiness, and was just a boy. He was so young. He couldn't just give up on love. "Someone special will want to do all that, someone will love you for what you are and that will never grow tired of letting you know how much he loves you for how perfectly imperfect you are…"

An uneasy feeling began to stir in the pit of Kurt's stomach. "And risk ending up in jail for being with an illegal form of technology?" he asked bitterly.

"Kurt-"

"You know what?" Kurt stood up. He fixed his clothes. "Tina invited me over to watch Moulin Rouge and I'm already late so..." he trailed off. He just didn't want to talk about what happened anymore.

Maybe in another life, another reality, he would be able to dream about love and romance, but not here, not while being what he was. Kurt wouldn't keep feeding childish fantasies that would never be fulfilled. He wouldn't let himself hope for it, what was the point anyway?

"Tina?" Penny frowned.

"Yeah, Tina Cohen Chang," Kurt dismissed. "She moved to 214 last week."

Penny kept an eyebrow risen but didn't say anything.

"Well I have to go now." Kurt smiled weakly "See you."

************************

Blaine stared blankly down at his phone, thoughts far away. He couldn't stop thinking about the previous night and about what he had almost done and the hurt and dejection in Kurt's eyes when he had ran away.

For a second, Blaine considered calling Quinn, but then he brushed the thought away. His friend was probably too busy with Puck, and Blaine himself wasn't sure if he would be able to talk about how he was feeling. Because that was the whole point of Blaine's confusion, the fact he was actually _feeling._

And he didn't like to feel things, not like that. Anger, pain, longing, loneliness? Blaine was used to those feelings. They were familiar, now easily controlled and suppressed. It was twisted and pretty much fucked up, but it was the truth. Blaine had learned to deal with those feelings. He knew how to disconnect himself from them, how to become numb before they hurt him too deeply. But what he was feeling at that moment, the feeling he was desperately trying to suppress alone in that empty parking lot? That was something completely new for him.

What Blaine had felt the previous night, when he stared into Kurt's blue eyes was something Blaine had never felt before, not with any of his previous buddy fucks. Not even when he had a crush on Ted and still was dapper and naive to the point of actually believing in happy endings and prince charmings.

Blaine didn't know how to deal with this unfamiliar feeling. It made him feel sick and anxious. It didn't seem like something he would learn to control or suppress over time. It seemed like something that would only grow bigger and bigger, until it became more than only a feeling, becoming a need. And in Blaine's experience that was a really, really bad thing. Needing someone always ended badly, and only the prospect of maybe developing this kind of necessity was more than enough of a reason for him to run in the opposite direction and never look back. It was a reason to call his mom and promise her he'd be good, and to take him back.

Actually that seemed like a pretty good idea. Blaine looked back at his phone. His mother would take him back wouldn't she? If he made a convincing scene, if he made her believe he could change…

Blaine laughed humorlessly. Who was he trying to fool? Not even Barbara would fall for that. He was so screwed up and even his mother knew that… That's why she got rid of him, because she knew he was fucked up. Everyone did.

But then, why didn't Kurt seem to know that as well? Why had he looked so hurt when Blaine ran away? What could Kurt have possibly seen in him that made him not laugh in Blaine's face when he began to babble about his brother? And why wasn't the boy the one who'd pushed Blaine away when Sam caught them?

Kurt would have every right of feeling ashamed caught in such a situation with a loser like Blaine.

So why he didn't?

Kurt hadn't been drunk. Blaine had been, even though he knew that being drunk wasn't the reason why he almost kissed Kurt. He had done a lot of stupid things while drunk and Blaine knew the difference. He had wanted to kiss Kurt. He had wanted to, and still wanted to, because he just couldn't take his eyes off of Kurt's beautiful blue eyes, because of the way the boy had blushed when Blaine caressed his cheeks last night... Blaine had almost kissed Kurt because of his pink lips and cute little nose and the way it adorably crinkles when he laughs, the boy's dimples, his toothy smile and his damn face…

Blaine knew exactly why he almost had kissed Kurt. It was simply because Kurt was, well, Kurt, and that was more than enough of a reason for anyone to want him.

Regardless of the way Blaine had been acting towards Kurt, the first time he had set his eyes on the boy, he had known that Kurt was special. That was why he felt that urge to protect Kurt. Kurt just kept surprising him, proving himself to be someone who just wouldn't put up with Blaine's crap. Kurt was so strong. Apparently, he also had a fair share of crap in his life, but he still didn't act like a jerk towards other people. He was brave enough to face what the world threw at him without hiding his true self behind facades and lies, without hating everyone around him and blaming others for his own misery.

Kurt was nothing like him. He was better.

And that was why Blaine had to run away. That was why he was sitting in that empty parking lot, holding back tears, repeating over and over again how bad and damaged and broken he was. Because more than anything, Blaine wanted to grab his car keys, drive back to Walter's place, and make that dejected look on Kurt's face go away.

Blaine wanted to dress his best. He wanted to put on decent clothes, gel his hair back, and then invite Kurt to go out and get coffee. He wanted to memorize the boy's coffee order, get a sweet lemon tart and make Kurt laugh while they talked about nothing and everything… And in the end, Blaine would insist on paying the bill like a gentleman and if things went well enough, he would finally finish what he began the previous night, kissing Kurt like he had never kissed anyone before, with care and gently, truly savoring the moment.

Blaine wanted all that, but he also knew that he couldn't have it all. He was no longer the dapper young boy who dressed like he was part of some 50's sitcom, always paying the bills, carrying tissues with him and singing about his feelings while jumping on the furniture. That boy didn't exist anymore. Blaine was the boy that would break the furniture for fun now, the one that repressed his feeling and fucked people whose names he didn't even know.

If they lived in a different reality or in some sort of an alternative universe, Blaine would stand up, grab his keys and go after Kurt.

But they didn't, Blaine was still the fucked up Blaine, and he wouldn't hurt Kurt for something that would never work out anyway. So Blaine stood up, grabbed his keys, started his car and drove away, but not to Walter's apartment, but to the liquor store where the owner would overlook his fake ID and provide him with some cheap alcohol.

Blaine still didn't know how to suppress these new and confusing feelings, but he was willing to try.

He had to.


	17. Click

Quinn was lying on her bed in a pair of men's boxers and an oversized t-shirt while Blaine was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at the ground. Quinn looked at how her friend's features were twisted in a mask of concern and something else entirely, and sighed.

She ran her fingers through her hair and then shifted her glaze back to the TV. Quinn wouldn't force Blaine to talk. She knew something was wrong and that it was eating him inside out. Blaine had showed up without warning hours ago, with the excuse that he wanted to hang out, but until now he had barely said a world. It was obvious he wanted to talk.

But it wasn't until Blaine opened and then closed his mouth again, wanting to say something and then changing his mind that Quinn gave up her "let him talk when he's ready" attitude.

"Oh my God, just tell me what's wrong with you," she said, sitting up. "Is this about what you would have done if Sam hadn't been such a fucking cock blocker on Santana's balcony?"

"What?" Blaine gasped, making Quinn pretty sure that it was definitely about just that. "W-what the hell are you talking about?" Blaine shouted.

"Seriously Blaine?" She raised an eyebrow. "Are you really trying to pull the stupid card on me? Me?"

Blaine didn't reply.

"I know what happened that night. Sam told me that he caught you almost kissing Kurt. And I know you well enough that if you had kissed him it wouldn't be a drunken mistake, a onetime thing induced by alcohol… It would-"

"Don't-" Blaine pleaded, looking away. "Just don't finish that, okay?"

Quinn sighed, supporting her chin on her friend's shoulder. "Okay," She murmured, nodding, "I'll stay quiet… You don't have to admit anything to me. But isn't it about time you begin to admit some things to yourself?"

Blaine remained silent.

"Are you avoiding him?" She asked in a hushed voice. "Is that why you're here?"

Blaine still didn't look at her.

"There's nothing to ashamed of, B," She said, placing her hand on his chin and forcing him to look at her. "Maybe a little embarrassed, but ya' know, the good kind of embarrassed, the one that comes with butterflies in your stomach. But not shame B, never feel ashamed of how you feel."

"Look at me Q," He murmured looking at her.

Quinn frowned. "And…?" She raised an eyebrow. Blaine looked at her. "Look at me and then look at him," Blaine said, lunching his shoulders, his eyes filled with such resignation that it broke Quinn's heart. She finally understood what Blaine meant every time he said that Kurt wasn't like them. Blaine thought Kurt wasn't like him. Blaine thought that Kurt was better and too good for him. And just like anything else good in his life, Blaine preferred to push it away in fear of losing it later when he became too attached to it.

It just seemed easier that way.

"You should talk to him," Quinn murmured.

Blaine shook his head. "No."

"But Blaine-"

"No!" Blaine interrupted her, a little too loudly. His fists were clenched tightly at his side. "There's nothing to talk about, okay?" He looked away. "I was drunk, and nothing happened. Nothing."

"Okay," Quinn replied, her lips twisting into a bitter smile. "But tell me this, when was the last time you looked at a boy and felt butterflies in your stomach?" She inquired, standing up. "Do you even remember? Because I don't! But let me tell you this, I wouldn't waste the chance of being with someone with who I can share more than just cheap alcohol and meaningless sex."

***********************************

Days went by before Artie finally allowed Eugene to step into his lab again.

In the meantime, he had designed a new security system and made sure of updating it regularly. He couldn't take any risks. Whoever had hacked his computer was dangerous; it wasn't just another hacker trying to prove he was better than Artie. If that was the case, minutes after the attack, news about how the best hacker in the country had been hacked would be all over the cyberspace.

But there was nothing.

It been days since the attack and no one had bragged about it. In fact, no one seemed to have heard about what happened. Whoever hacked Artie's system didn't do it for the recognition. This person had a much more obscure intent. And that was what scared Artie the most. Not only that, but it also pissed off him, because he wouldn't let anyone mess with Kurt and Genie and then just walk away.

This hacker was good, maybe even the best, but this person gave Artie motivation and more than anything, he wanted to make whoever had hurt Genie pay.

"I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON SOMETHING," Eugene announced, entering Artie's lab with heavy steps.

The hacker raised an eyebrow and wheeled around. "What do you mean you've been working on something?"

Eugene shrugged and sat beside Artie. "YOU GAVE ME A LAPTOP."

"But we haven't had internet for the past few days," Artie stated.

"I COULDN'T HELP IT. I WAS BORED AND YOUR NEIGHBOR'S WI-FI PASSWORD IS 123456," Eugene said and scoffed, slinging his notebook open. "IT'S LIKE HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW THAT HE LIVES NEXT TO THE GREATEST HACKER IN THE COUNTRY."

Artie sighed. "I'm not the greatest hacker in the country," he murmured, almost inaudibly and looking down at his lap.

Eugene titled his head to the side. "OF COURSE YOU ARE."

"No, I'm not," Artie growled quickly. "Someone got past my security system, hacked my computer and hurt you, so obviously I'm not the best hacker in the country."

Eugene looked at Artie. "YES YOU ARE. YOU FIXED ME, DIDN'T YOU?"

Artie looked away. "Yeah, but it was because of me you got damaged in the first place."

Eugene gripped Artie's shoulders. "BUT YOU FIXED ME. AND YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND. TO ME YOU WILL ALWAYS BE THE BEST HACKER IN THE WHOLE WORLD, SO STOP ARGUING WITH ME, IT'S POINTLESS."

Artie smiled, rubbing his neck. He wasn't used to being considered someone's best friend. Years of unstoppable activism and frequent arrests made Artie a quite lonely person.

"Okay, okay… I won't argue…" He smiled, fixing his eyes on the screen of Eugene's laptop. Its background was a picture of Osamu Tezuka's Astroboy. "So what have you been working on? An Aymara dictionary?"

"NO, I ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN ANALYZING SANDRA JORDAN'S SOCIAL NETWORKS-" the robot said as he pulled up Sandra Jordan's Facebook page.

"Wait- What?" Artie gasped, eyes filled with worry. "I told you to not connect yourself to a center of processing again. It's dangerous Genie! W-what if you got hurt again?"

"I DID NOT CONNECT MYSELF TO ANY CENTER OF PROCESSING," Eugene interrupted. "I DID IT ALL THE OLD FASHIONED WAY," he explained, turning his attention back to his laptop.

"ACCORDING TO YOUR STUDIES, KURT'S CONSTRUCTION STARTED ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO. SO I LOOKED FOR EVIDENCE IN WHAT, IN THEORY, SANDRA POSTED WHILE SHE WAS WORKING ON KURT'S PROJECT," Eugene explained.

Artie's eyes sparkled. "Did you find anything?"

"SHE WAS A PRETTY RESERVED PERSON. NONE OF THE PEOPLE ON HER FRIENDS LIST SEEMED TO BE CONNECTED TO THE TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY AND MOST OF HER POSTS WERE OF SONG LYRICS OR PICTURES THAT DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH HER WORK." Eugene showed Artie some pictures of Sandra with coffee mugs in her hands and two white cats in her lap.

"BUT THEN I FOUND THIS," Eugene said excitedly, showing a picture of Sandra smiling beside a coffee machine in with a purple mug between her hands. She was wearing a black over-the-shoulder long sleeved top that had a pair of sunglasses hanging on it.

Not exactly much of an enlightening picture if you ask Artie.

"Okay, so you found a picture of her beside a coffee machine…?" Artie said, raising an eyebrow. Besides confirming the fact that Sandra really enjoyed coffee, that picture didn't seem any more relevant than the pictures of Sandra with her cats.

Eugene huffed, and Artie was pretty sure if the robot could he would be rolling his eyes at him. "IT'S NOT ONLY A PICTURE OF HER BESIDE A COFFEE MACHINE. CHECK IT OUT," he said, before began to expand and then adjust and then expand the picture again so the final result wouldn't end up pixilated.

"AND THERE YOU GO, NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT AN IMAGE OF A WINDOW THAT WAS REFLECTED BY SANDRA'S SUNGLASSES WHEN SHE TOOK THIS PICTURE."

"Oh my God…" Artie murmured, covering his hand with his mouth. "This seems to be the outside of an old industrial park. Look at this." He pointed to the slightly blurry image of a three-phase transformer. "You're a fucking genius. I mean, of course we don't know where this place is or, if in fact, she was working there, but I think this is a start"

"I THINK WE SHOULD SEND THIS TO WALTER," Eugene stated, already opening his e-mail account.

"But we still don't know where this place is. We have to confirm if it is, in fact, an industrial park and where the hell it's located," Artie argued.

"WALTER'S BEEN WORKING WITH ILLEGAL TECHNOLOGY FOR YEARS. MAYBE HE'LL BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THIS PLACE…"

"I guess you're right," Artie said.

***********************************

"So tell me again what we're baking?" Tina asked, slipping a white apron on before lining two cake boxes on the table.

"Apple and walnut cake with treacle icing," Kurt said and smiled, putting flour, cinnamon and baking soda in a big bowl.

"Sounds delicious." Tina chuckled, handing him the sugar.

"It tastes like Autumn…" Kurt grinned, stirring the sugar and making sure there weren't any lumps. "Hand me the oil, and please stop eating the chopped apples!"

Tina laughed, letting go of the bowl of chopped apples, but not before earning another stern look from Kurt as she popped a piece into her mouth.

"Sorry," she murmured, turning around to get the oil. "Here," she said before gaze shifted to the back of Kurt's neck.

"Where'd you get this scar?" She asked, touching the almost imperceptibly rectilinear scar following the line of Kurt's spine.

Kurt flustered. "I-I uh… I don't remember… I was really young when it happened," He rushed. "Can I get the eggs?! And the apples! That is, if you haven't eaten everything…" He trailed off with a nervous laugh.

Tina laughed as well and handed Kurt the small bowl with the chopped apples. Maybe if the android wasn't so nervous himself, he would have noticed how forced her laugh sounded.

***********************************

Tina's apartment smelled sweet, like apples… like her childhood…

It made her sick.

The apartment wasn't supposed to smell or feel like home. Tina wasn't supposed to feel comfortable inside those walls. This was temporary. Everything that surrounded her was artificial and false. Her clothes, the furniture, all the things she had bought from flea markets to make her cover more believable. She was there with a goal, which was to disable Project Metempsychosis and then leave without looking back.

She opened the windows and felt shivers running down her spine as the cool air invaded the room. She didn't mind though. The cold was good; it made the atmosphere feel much more appropriate.

Tina threw the leftovers of the apple and walnut cake in the garbage. She threw her hair up in a ponytail and sat down on the couch.

She opened her black laptop and a flash of light hit her eyes.

_"You're late."_

"I was busy," She replied, staring at her laptop's screen.

_"You said that in one week you would have an prognosis of Project Metempsychosis's situation, it's been two weeks already."_

Tina bit her lower lip, looking away before looking back up at the screen again. "The malware that you infected Project Metempsychosis with was removed and the bug in his programming was corrected. There's no other way of accessing and disabling Project Metempsychosis's system, besides connecting a peripheral device to it," she said quietly, almost mechanically.

_"You're sure one of those FDTC Human Assurance Devices wouldn't work? It would be so much easier."_

Tina rolled her eyes and huffed. "You know very well that Project Metempsychosis's endoskeleton is shelled against those kinds of devices."

_"Well I guess we're going to have to do it the hard way then…"_

Tina felt guilt rise in her throat. Kurt's laugh as they baked echoed inside of her mind. "A-are you sure there's no other way?" she murmured, looking down at her hands.

_"Unless you want death Tina, we-"_

"No!" Tina gasped, looking up. "Of course not, but maybe if we-"

_"Do I have to remind you about what happened in Berlin? Didn't I already send you the pictures?"_

Tina felt a knot in her stomach. She shook her head, taking a deep breath. "You're right," She murmured, her voice coming out scratchy. She cleared her throat and swallowed, trying to get her voice back to normal. "You're right," she repeated catching a glimpse of how the familiar eyes on her screen sharpened with smugness.

_"As always."_

"So when are we going to do it? We just need to find a place for it and the necessary equipment…" She trailed off nervously.

_"Oh sweetheart, believe me, I want this to end just as much as you do, but we have to be careful. After all, we don't want those federal agents after our asses later, do we? And you weren't exactly subtle in approaching Project Metempsychosis…"_

"So what are you saying?" Tina gritted. She just wanted to get this over with, the whole situation was already becoming too much for her. "I'll have to keep lying? You don't understand, Kurt's going to-"

_"Project Metempsychosis."_

"Yeah, that's what I said. Project Metempsychosis is-"

_"No, you said Kurt, and we agreed we wouldn't address Project Metempsychosis like that."_

Tina sighed heavily. "This situation is obviously affecting me," she said burying her face between her hands. She swallowed hard before taking a few deep breaths. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

_"You'll do exactly what this situation demands of you. Do you understand me, Tina? Until we find a way of getting our hands on Project Metempsychosis and disabling him permanently, you'll keep smiling and making him believe you're a fucking angel, and I don't care if I have to send you daily pictures of what happened in Berlin to remind you why we are doing this."_

Tina nodded, heavily sighing.

Sometimes she just felt like disappearing.

_If only things were that easy._

***********************************

****  
_I'm bored_  
, was written inside the paper ball that that was thrown at Walter's head.

Walter rolled his eyes and looked up at the desk across his own.

"Don't you have reports to finish?" He asked, taking a sip of his black sugarless coffee.

Penny wheeled her chair, rolling around until she was besides Walter. "I already did, and now I'm bored," she sighed.

"Boss is watching us," Walter murmured, adjusting his reading glasses as he looked over to where Mr. Johnson, an older man with grey hair, a big nose, and a large mustache, was standing and glaring at them.

"If he asks, I'm helping you with these reports." Penny grabbed a pen and began to write on the papers on Walter's desk. "Look at me, helping you with your reports..." she murmured in melodious tone.

Walter chuckled. "Penny, you're not helping me with them, you're drawing little ducks on them."

"First of all, these are swans, and these are drafts anyway," She dismissed, before furrowing her eyebrows together in concentration. "Drafts that look much better with graceful swans on them," she murmured.

"Graceful swans?" Walter raised an eyebrow mockingly.

"Shut up." Penny bumped her fist on his shoulder before an email notification popped up on Walter's computer's screen. "Oh look, you have a message!" She looked up with her brown eyes wide and excited.

"And you're going to stand here while I check my emails?"

Penny lunched her shoulders, supporting her chin in her palm. "What? It's not like you have anything to hide besides your registration in single mom's forums where you look for tips on how deal with Blaine."

Walter blushed. "I don't-"

Penny rolled her eyes. "Walter, please, I saw it. Remember last week when you left your email account open on my computer? Yeah buddy, I know about the Star Trek forum as well."

"Just turn around!" Walter cried, mortified.

"Seriously?"

"Turn around!" Walter hissed, gripping Penny's chair and spinning the girl until she was facing Andrew, the agent who worked in the desk behind Walter. "Hi there," she laughed, blowing at the lock of her ginger hair her that fell on her face.

Andrew didn't even look up from his computer.

"Oh my freaking God…" Walter gasped, gripping Penny's chair and spinning her around again so that she was facing the computer screen.

"Wow," The ginger woman said and laughed. "Make your mind, Walter! Do you want to share your love for Star Trek with me or not?" She mocked.

"Look at this." Walter pointed to the screen where a picture of what seemed to be an industrial complex was being displayed.

"And what am I looking at exactly?" Penny murmured, pushing loose locks of hair behind her ear and moving closer to Walter.

"This is a picture of a window that was reflected in Sandra Jordan's sunglasses. It's dated to the time period in which Artie Project Metempsychosis was being built," Walter explained. "It seems to be an industrial complex."

Penny squinted her eyes. "But that doesn't mean anything… she could be visiting someone or-"

"I know this place," Walter interrupted, fingers typing in a rush as several FDTC files were open on his computer. "Look at this. These are pictures of Angelus Complex-"

"Where Avalon built the humanoid androids before the anti-humanization laws," Penny completed, looking wide eyed at Walter.

"Yep! And do you see this blurry symbol over here?" He murmured, expanding the image Artie sent to him. "It doesn't look like this one?" He pointed to a picture of Angelus Complex where the Avalon's logo was visible.

"But that's not why I think that it's the Angelus Complex." Walter grinned, hazel eyes sparkling.

"No?" Penny frowned.

"No! Just because this place has the Avalon logo doesn't mean that it's The Angelus Complex. Avalon's logos are everywhere," Walter explained. "The thing is, seven years ago, abnormal levels of energy use were registered in the Angelus Complex. And in theory, this place was supposed to be inactive since the anti-humanization laws, so a FDTC agent was sent to check it out."

"And it would be too much of a coincidence if Sandra Jordan, who was directly involved in Project Metempsychosis, took a picture in a place looking exactly like the building that would be perfect to produce illegal forms of technology, and that years later registered abnormal levels of energy's use," Penny said, the smallest small tugging the corners of her lips. "We just have to find the name of the agent involved."

"Exactly." Water smiled accessing the FDTC case registers. "Just give me a minute."

***********************************

Kurt had freckles.

They were almost imperceptible, and if you didn't look close enough or not really pay attention, you probably wouldn't notice them.

But Blaine did.

He kind of hated himself for it, because he shouldn't be noticing. These little details shouldn't be catching his attention; that was the opposite of what he had promised himself he would do. Blaine had promised himself he would gain control over this thing (yes, thing: he refused to name what he was feeling towards Kurt), and as the days went by, Blaine had convinced himself that what he was feeling towards Kurt was just a side effect of the fact he hadn't had sex in ages.

So Blaine had a plan: he would distance himself from Kurt, and get laid. And his plan would've be perfect; fucking perfect, if it wasn't for Kurt's fucking freckles.

Blaine didn't even know that freckles were a turn-on for him, but there he was, lying on his bed and pretending to be on his phone. Really, he was stealing glimpses of Kurt's perfect face and those almost imperceptible freckles.

It gave Blaine an uncomfortable feeling. It made his skin feel tight and caused him to feel tense. Every time he caught sight of one of those little details which made Kurt so damn unique, his heart thumped a little more forcefully against his ribcage.

Blaine's cell phone buzzed, bringing him back to reality.

**Hey gorgeous, how bout u come over tonight? -Ethan**

Blaine read and re-read the message over and over again. This was it. It was the opportunity he was waiting for, and he needed to get this need out of his system…

So why didn't he feel excited about it?

He looked up, his eyes immediately drawn back to Kurt. He felt his stomach flip, and sighing, he shoved his phone back into his pocket. Ethan wasn't that hot, anyway, he lied to himself. Ethan was hot. He just didn't have freckles, piercing blue eyes or an adorable nose…

Hearing another buzzing noise. Blaine reached into his pocket, and then furrowed his eyebrow. It wasn't his phone.

Then he heard Kurt chuckling, and turned around to see the boy's blue eyes fixed on what was apparently a cell phone.

Blaine frowned. Since when did Kurt have a phone?

"I thought you didn't have a cell phone," He said before he could stop the words from coming out of his mouth. He cringed on the inside a little when he realized how sharp they sounded.

Kurt glanced up, right into Blaine's eyes. "I'm sorry, I keep forgetting that I need to update you on everything that happens in my life," he retorted coldly.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Did Walter give you that phone?"

Kurt made a face.

Blaine cleared his throat uneasily. "What? He's my father," he said, trying to mask the fact that he was just genuinely curious about when Kurt had acquired a phone, and who was texting him.

"No, it wasn't your father. Penny gave me the phone," Kurt explained. He wasn't looking at Blaine and was more focused on replying to the text Tina had sent to him.

"Penny is kind of rich, isn't she?" Blaine wondered, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Kurt looked up. "I suppose so. I mean the clothes she bought me weren't exactly cheap, and neither is this phone…"

"Why the hell is she working with the FDTC then? No one wants to work in FDTC," Blaine said, frowning. "They don't even have a cool vest like the FBI or CIA!"

Kurt chuckled at Blaine's remark, and Blaine couldn't help but shiver as the boy's laugh reverberated through him.

Their eyes locked for a second, and they both forgot what they were talking about. It wasn't until Kurt's phone buzzed again that they were brought back to reality, the eye contact breaking. Blaine looked away as Kurt nervously looked back at his phone's screen.

"So, already texting then, huh? And I thought you weren't popular," Blaine murmured, ignoring the small twinge of jealousy in his chest. Who was Kurt was texting? Did he meet someone? Maybe the girl he had been hanging out with had introduced him to a cute boy… Blaine wouldn't know. It wasn't like they were actually friends.

"It's only Tina." Kurt shrugged, almost reassuringly, as if he somehow could read Blaine's mind.

"Is she the girl from 214?" Blaine inquired, trying to ignore the relief flowing inside of him.

"Yeah, she's like the only contact I have besides Walter and Penny," Kurt said and sighed, supporting his chin on his knee. "It's kind of pathetic, isn't it? I have only three contacts in my phone."

Blaine bit his lip. The worst idea he could possibly have was creeping inside of his head. But he couldn't, it would be stupid; he was trying to distance himself from Kurt for God's sake and-

"You can have my number," He blurted out before he could give them any further thought.

Kurt's eyebrows furrowed together in a confused expression; he didn't quite believe what he just heard. No, he must be imagining things. Blaine would never offer his number to him…

Blaine looked away. "I mean, we live together," He said. "It's only normal that we have each numbers right? You know, in case I need you to cover for me when I sneak out or something like that…"

"Oh," Kurt murmured, managing to mask his disappointment. So that was why Blaine wanted his number, just so Kurt could help him when he snuck out to meet his friends, or even his fuck buddies. "Fine, but don't expect me to get up at daybreak to open the door for you," he murmured quietly, not really looking at Blaine as he held out his phone.

There was a silence, in which Blaine stared at Kurt.

"I won't," he finally said, grabbing Kurt's phone. He really wouldn't.

He quickly typed his number, but he didn't feel comfortable enough to take a picture of himself to go with it, so he gave it back to Kurt. "Here," he said, before his own phone buzzed with a new message.

_**Are you coming or not? – Ethan**_

Blaine read the message, and then glanced up at Kurt.

It was too much all at once; the panic rising within him, the text from Ethan, Kurt's freckles, his blue eyes, the knot in his stomach, the heat burning inside of him as his instincts screamed at him to run. It was too much; he couldn't process it properly, not while standing only a few feet from Kurt.

He needed to get away.

"I have to go," Blaine spluttered, flailing his arms, as if he was tossing all his feelings aside. He clenched his fists and turned his back to Kurt, who called his name. Against all instinct, Blaine turned around.

_Click._

The sound echoed softly in the room, and before Blaine was able to process what was happening, Kurt was already lowering his phone.

"It would be weird if you were the only contact without a picture," Kurt said, looking down at Blaine's picture for moment before meeting Blaine's eyes again.

And just like that, Blaine pulled himself back, unable to leave or run away.

"Weren't you leaving?" Kurt titled his head in confusion as Blaine crossed the room and collapsed on his bed.

Blaine sighed heavily, his eyes glued to the roof. "Apparently not," he said and lowered his gaze, catching the way the corners of Kurt's lips lifted just a little.

**

**********************************

**

"Ah-ha!" Walter grinned. "We have to look for Agent Caleb Thompson," He read off of a FDTC file. "Apparently, he's retired… but he was the one responsible for the investigation of the abnormal levels of energy use on the Angelus Complex." He took note of Caleb's address.

"Let's go after him then." Penny smiled, already standing up.

"No, wait." Walter grabbed her arm. "It's best if you stay," he concluded, looking at how Johnson was watching them with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What? Why?" Penny cried.

"Because Johnson already said that there is no need for both of us to go to the robot flea market and I don't want him to get suspicious…" Walter murmured, grabbing his things.

"Maybe if someone had kept their mouth shut about Mr. Johnson's weight, he wouldn't be so tough on us," Penny retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I know, and I'm sorry! But only one of us can go, and I am the only one with the interrogatory experience here," he tried to explain, running his hand through his curly hair.

Penny rolled her eyes, turning around and meeting her boss's sharp glare before sitting down in her chair. "Fine! But call me soon you get there," she hissed, wheeling around back to her desk. "I'm serious!" she held out a pen. "Call me!"

TBC...


	18. Juicy Fruit

"I'm gonna watch a movie," Kurt wasn't like he was inviting Blaine to watch the movie with him or anything like that; he was just letting him know what he was going to do because Blaine was in the room. It was the logical thing to do, right? Letting the boy he shared a room with know that he was about to watch a movie, especially because his headphones weren't working…

"Oh." Blaine sat on the edge of his bed. "Really? I bet you're going to watch some chick flick," He teased, the corner of his lips tugging into a half-smirk.

Kurt raised an eyebrow."A Chick flick? Really, Anderson?Misogyny?That's the best mocking remark you could think of?" He retorted, grabbing from a pack of Juicy Fruit, his favorite gum, from his pocket.

Blaine stood up and gave him a smirk."You're going to watch one of those movies that are based off ofNicholas Sparks' books, aren't you?" he said, making Kurt blush, because that was exactly what the android was planning to do.

"Shut up!" Kurt laughed, focusing his attention on his laptop screen.

And then suddenly, Blaine sat beside him on the futon.

"What?" Blaine bumped his shoulder against Kurt's, laughing softly before fixing his eyes on the screen. He never said he didn't like chick flicks.

 

**

**************************

**

"Hey Penny," Walter said and smiled, supporting his phone between his chin and shoulder.

"Walter!" Penny practically jumped off her chairas she answered her phone."Did you interrogate Caleb?" she rushed, chewing on her pen nervously.

"No, I'm just calling, as I promised I would.I just arrived at his house," Walter explained, getting out of his car and locking the door. "Hey, can you stop by my apartment and check up on the boys for me? Things have been a little off between them lately…And also, can you give them some food?"

Penny looked up from her desk, torn between the delight of doing anything that distracted her from the paperwork Walter had given her to do and the slightly sick feeling she got from dealing with reports about illegal forms of technology being confiscated. It made her sick."Sure thing, I can check up on them, but I'm warning you, I'm a terrible cook. I don't even know how to boil water."

Walter laughed. He really honest-to-god belly laughed. "Okay Penny, I'm sure you and the boys will figure something out," he said, fixing his hazel eyes in the old and quite trashy house in front of him Walter wasn't sure if he could even call it a house. It had this dark, dreary atmosphere; the paint was peeling, the walls seemed to be soaking, and the plaster was crumbling… It was a horrible place.

"I have to go now, we'll talk later," he said, ending the calland shoving the phone in the pocket of his trench coat as he walked through the junk and debris in the house's yard. He rang the bell twice before a tallolder man with tired green eyes, small lips and short blond hair answered the door.

Caleb looked at Walter, narrowing his eyes. "Can I help you?" He asked, his voice marked by a discernible hoarseness, which couldonly be accomplished after almost 40 years of smoking and 3 packs of cigarettesa day.

"My name is John," Walter lied. He wouldn't give this guy his real name because this wasn't an official investigation, and if Caleb Thompsonstill had a connection with someone related to the Project Metempsychosis,Walter wouldn't want to risk revealing Kurt's location. "I work for the FDCT-"

"Why do I have the oddest feeling that you're lying, and that John's not your real name?" Caleb pointedout, interrupting Walter.

The corners of Walter's lips were pulled into a smirk. Two could play that game. "Because I am lying, the same way you've been lying for the past 3 years about what you saw in the Angelus Complex on October 24th."

Caleb green eyes widened. "I-I don't know-"he tried speaking, but Walter held his hand back up, cutting him off.

"Don't even try,Caleb. You know exactly what I'm talking about, so why don't you make things easier for the two of us and invite me in so we can have a nice little talk," Walter said and smiled, his hazel eyes sharp as he watched how Caleb swallowed hard to force down the urge to take a lunge at him.

Caleb clenched his jaw. "Is this an official-"

"No, this is not an official investigation," Walter cut in. He couldn't allow Caleb to talk or even think. He had to intimidate the older man, disorient him, and scare him. "I'm not from the FDTC's Internal Affairs department. If I was, we would be having a completely different conversation. For starters, you would be handcuffed, because what you did wasn't only an infraction of the code, it was a federal crime."

"Why you are bringing this back? I'm retired!" Caleb cried, running a hand through his short blond hair. "I-I spent my youth serving this country," he pleaded, his green eyes huge and watering.

It almost moved Walter, almost."Look, I just want know what you saw and why you lied. I have no interest in bringingthis to public knowledge," He said, putting on his good cop façade."So why don't you invite me in, tell me what happened, what you saw, and I'll leave you alone."

Caleb looked up at him, his eyebrowsfurrowed together. "How do I know if I can trust you?"

"You don't, and you can't." Walter lunched his shoulders. "But I'll tell you this, if I leave this place without answers, I assure you Caleb, the FDTC's personal affairs department will hear about how you lied. And you, a man who spent his youth serving this country, will spend your last days in a Federal Prison. Is that what you want, Caleb?"

Caleb didn't answer but made room so Walter could enter his house.

"We received a call. My partner was out sick so I went there alone," He blurted out as soon as he closed the front door. "The complex was supposed to be inactive, but part of it wasn't."

"And what did you see?" Walter asked,grabbing pack of nicotine gum from his pocket.

Caleb looked away, turning his back to Walter. "Not much, I swear-"

"It was enough for someone to suborn you," Walter pointed out, chewing his gum.

Caleb sighed heavily, sitting in an old armchair. "They were covering an endoskeleton with what I swear seemed to be real flesh, I don't know how- but it wasn't that silicon crap that was used in the 182717 series," he said, before burying his face between the palms of his calloused hands.

"How many people were working there?" Walter asked, raising his left eyebrow."I want names and descriptions…"

"There were only two people," Caleb cut in.

Walter snorted. "Don't bullshit me, Caleb."

"I swear, there were only two!" Caleb cried, throwing his arms in the air. His round, sweaty face seemed startled."There was this woman; she was dressed like a surgeon and was wearing scrubs, glovesand stuff like that. She was brunette and white. She had short hair and grey eyes. I don't know her name. I didn't even talk to her! This long haired guy grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the damn room… And then he asked me how much I wanted to keep my mouth shut about what I saw."

"Names Caleb, I want names," Walter pushed, looking directly at Caleb.

"I don't remember," Caleb murmured nervously.

Walter sighed, grabbing his phone of his pocket. "Maybe talkingto someone from the Internal Affairs department will refresh your memory…" he said, typing in a random number on his cell phone but not tearing his gaze from Caleb's.

"Gunter Schneider! Gunter Schneider!" Caleb shouted, standingup. "That's what was written on the name tag," he said.

Walter smiled, deliberately putting his phone back in his pocket extra slowly."He worked with Avalon industries?" He asked.

"I guess…" Caleb trailed off, pressing his lips in a thin line for a moment. "I think he was using the Angelus facilities illicitly. I don't see a reason why the Avalon industries would spend money on a project like that. Maybe that was why he paid me, because if someone found out, he would lose his job and access to the facilities."

"And be arrested," Walter completed.

"Y-yeah, and be arrested," Caleb repeated quietly.

"How much did he pay you?" Walter inquired, once again crossing his arms over his chest.

"Fivethousand," Caleb confessed, closing his eyes for a second. "I had a gambling problem and I owed money to some dangerous people. That's why I accepted the deal, only because I didn't have any means to pay my debts," he said.

"He gave you five thousand dollars in cash?"

"No, he asked formy bank account number and transferred the money," Caleb explained tensely.

"Caleb… Caleb…"Walter uncrossed his arms and shrugged, standing a few inches away from Caleb and looking down. Caleb slowly lowered himself back into the armchair. "Why do I have the feeling that you're hiding something for me?" the federal agent asked, making a face.

"I'm not!" Caleb looked up, glancing at Walter anxiously."That was what happened. I was monitoring the levels of energy in the area. I saw something unusual on the Angelus Complex, and I went there to check it out. When I got there, I noticed something was off, but I thought it was just a sale of illegal models. But then I entered this place, this lab, and I saw a woman covering a metallic endoskeleton with something that really looked like real flash and then this German guy showed up, pulled me out of there and offered me money to not tell anyone what I had seen, and I like I told you, I had debts to pay,so I agreed."

"And you didn't ask for more money?" Walter shrugged "I mean if he was willing to pay five thousand…" he trailed off, studying Caleb.

"No!" Caleb cried, as if offended by Walter insinuation. "I'm an honest man! I just accepted the money because I owed a lot todangerous people."

Walter sighed. "I still have the feeling you're lying to me…" he grabbed his cell phone.

"I'm not! I swear!" Caleb assured him."Please don't give me away to internal affairs! I can't go the jail, I'm only an old man…"

Walter sighed, putting his phone back in his pocket."Alright Caleb, I'll trust you on that. But don't think if I find out you lied to me that I won't come after you," he threatened.

"O-okay." Caleb nodded nervously. "Thank you, John, thank you so much," he cried, holding Walter's hand between his sweaty ones.

"You're welcome. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go." Walter let go of Caleb's grip. "Don't leave the city. I'll be in touch," he warned, walking out of the house, leaving the older manlooking at him wide eyed.

 

**

**************************

**

"So is that what you dream of, Kurtie? An epic kiss that fades away as the closing credits slowly began to appear?" Blaine mused, lips lifting up into a smirk.

Kurt face hardened. "No," he murmured, closing the laptop and putting it away.

Blaine furrowed his eyebrows. "Really? Because I could've sworn I saw you tear up a bit when the guy made that speech about the girls eyes and how he could never forget them-"

"Can you just drop it?" Kurt stood up. He didn't want to talk about how he would never get romance or speeches about how his eyes were beautiful. Happy endings weren't an option for him; no one would want anything to do with him after knowing what he was. Even if he found a guy that didn't care, Kurt wasn't sure if he would be willing to risk someone's safety.

"That's just not for me," He said and scoffed "Silly romances? Stupid promises of loving someone forever? No one will ever want any of that with me…"

Blaine stood up, looking confused. He didn't know what to say or do. Kurt did want to be loved; Blaine could tell. He had seen it in Kurt's eyes and the way they had sparkled when the main couple finally kissed. He wanted the slow dance and the holding hands with someone. So why was he acting like that, as if there was something wrong with him, something that made him unworthy that kind of devotion? Kurt of all people should be dreaming of romance.

"Y-you shouldn't talk like that." It came out of Blaine's lips before he could even register what he was saying, and then he was stepping forward, looking into Kurt's eyes and reaching up to his arm.

"Don't-"Kurt stepped back, his blue eyes filled with tears. His voice was breaking, and his head was spinning. A humorless laugh slipped through his lips. "What? Are you going to tell meto not give up love and convince me that I'll find a guy that'll actually want someone like me? Really Blaine? You?"Kurt couldn't help but let his pain and hurt show. Blaine didn't have the right to saying anything, not after what happened on Santana's balcony, and not after behaving as if being with Kurt was something to be ashamed of.

Blaire stared at Kurt and at the android's hurt blue eyes. He only saw pessimism and self-depreciation. Kurt believed in love, he just didn't believe that someone could love _him._

This is it, Blaine thought as Kurt's words echoed inside of his mind. This was the moment where Blaine could step back, where he should step back and walk away from Kurt. He already did it once, he could do again. It would hurt, but Kurt would survive it and maybe even be stronger for it. And no matter what Kurt said or thought, he deserved romance, long speeches and epic kisses under the pouring rain. And he would have that, Blaine knew it, because if someone like Kurt didn't, then no one else deserved to. And Blaine would learn to live with that feeling, with the butterflies in his stomach every time he saw Kurt, maybe it would never quite go could choose that, choose to step back, turn around and leave Kurt alone. He didn't have to be the one that would prove to Kurt that he was wanted. Blaine should've left that for someone better, someone that Blaine probably would end up envying and probably resenting his actions a little bit, but that would still be better than the broken and useless brat Blaine had become.

Blaine should have step back.

God, he should have walked away.

But he didn't.

Instead, he took a few steps forward, gripping Kurt's arms and pushing the androids back against the wall. And Kurt let him. His blue eyes were wide and he was holding his breath, but he didn't push Blaine away as the boy invaded his personal space.

"I'm not afraid of you," Kurt murmured, and Blaine wished he could pretend he didn't understand what Kurt meant by that. He wished that those whispered words didn't make so much sense, and that they didn't unlock so many feeling inside of his chest.

But they didn't scare Kurt, and neither did his whole bad boy façade, his behavior or his piercing. Kurt saw through all that. He saw who Blaine truly was and all the damage and darkness, and he wasn't scared.

Fuck, this is it, Blaine thought. He could feel himself trembling, his heart slamming against his ribcage and the air turning ridiculously heavy, so tense that it seemed impossible to even breathe properly. He placed a hand on Kurt's cheek, while the other came to rest on Kurt's neck, his thumb caressing Kurt's collar bone.

But it was only when Blaine had his face only a few inches away from Kurt's that he felt the other boy tentatively bringing his hands up, gripping the material of Blaine's leather jacket between trembling fingers. Kurt's blue eyes were so wide, so fucking terrified of rejection, but they were getting closer and closer…

Blaine let go of all his fears and ignored all the voices in his head saying that what he was doing was stupid and that he didn't deserve that. He leaned forward, closing the distance between them and pressing their lips was trembling when he pressed his mouth to Kurt's and he meant the kiss to be chaste, but it quickly turned desperate and frantic and imperfect and in the end Blaine didn't care. Kurt was kissing him back, actually kissing him back, blue eyes closed and eyelashes fluttering, holding on to Blaine as if that kiss was the first good thing that had happened to him in the past months. And maybe it was, and Blaine probably should be worried about that, but he just couldn't bring himself to care, not when Kurt's lips were on his and he could feel the heat of the boy's skin under his fingertips.

Blaine broke the kiss for a moment."Y-you can have it," he murmured, breathless.

"W-what?" Kurt frowned, not tearing his gaze away from Blaine's lips.

Blaine shook his head, chuckling against Kurt's lips. "The romance, the happy ending, y-you can have it, all of it," he whispered. He knew what he was implying, the unspoken promise he was making, but he didn't care, because at that moment, for that fraction of second, he could see it coming true.

 

**

**************************

**

Looking around at the familiar and drunk faces of a place called Rose's Bar, Caleb pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"Shit," he murmured, throwing the pack was empty.

As if his day couldn't get any worse, now he was out of cigarettes.

He buried his face between his handsand groaned. What was he going to do now? Someone inside of the FDCT knew what he had done. He could end up in a federal jail.

_Caleb Thompson locked up._

The thought made him close his fingers in a opened it and closed it again, pushing his nails into his skin, hard enough to draw was not letting that happen.

He could runaway. Maybe he could go to Mexico? Yeah, that seemed like agreat idea. After all, he loved Mexican food; tacos and stuff. He just needed some money. He had lost most of his savings in a poker match last week.

Caleb inhaled deeply, trying to get ahold of himself, and then he stood up from his table and asked Lucas, the short and bored looking bartender, where the phone was. Lucas made a face and pointed towards the left side of the room. There was a small booth in a dark took the last sip of his beer and got inside the small both, looking for change in his pockets before dialing a familiar number.

It rang twice, and then the secretary picked up.

"Tell your bossthat Caleb Thompsonneedsto talk to him now," Caleb said nervously.

The secretary didn't seemto hesitate and in a matter of seconds Caleb heard a familiar voice that always made his skin crawl."This better be important. I was about to-"

"I need more money," Caleb interrupted.

_"You've already received your payment this month-"_

"I want more," Caleb said and gritted his teeth, looking around, "I need more."

_"And why I would give you more money?"_ the man replied, confused.

"Well, if you don't give me more money, let's say 15 thousand until the end of the day, I'm going to call up some old buddies of minefrom the FDTC and tell them what I saw in the Angelus Complex that day," Caleb statement was complete bullshit. He didn't have any buddies in the FDTC… everyone there pretty much hated him.

_"You'd end up in jail."_

"Not if I make a deal with them… C'mon Adrian, I'll be giving them a big fish like you, and just as I said, I still have friends there. I'll probably just end up doing some community service," Caleb responded.

_"You don't want to do this, Caleb."_

"Oh Adrian, believe me, I do," Caleb said. He needed the money. He was tired and wanted to run away from this shit and never look back. He just wanted the sunny beaches and tacos.

 

**

**************************

**

Supporting his forehead against Kurt's, Blaine looked down at their intertwined fingers, gliding his thumb along Kurt's hand. Both boys were breathing heavily, and Kurt's lipswere swollen from kissing and Blaine's were curls messy from where Kurt had been tugging only a few seconds ago.

"Your lips taste sweet, like juicy fruit," Blaine murmured, his voice hoarse.

"My favorite gum," Kurt said and giggled.Blaine smiled before cupping Kurt's chin and leaning in again, kissing Kurt'sbottom lip before licking along his top lip and slowly slipping his tongue back into Kurt's mouth. He couldn't help but smile as Kurt moved one arm around his back and under his leather jacket, clenching his shirt and the other behind his head, his pale fingers in Blaine's curls as hepulled him in closer.

They were lost in the kisses when suddenly they heard a female voice coming from the living room.

"Hey boys!"

It was Penny.

"Fuck," Blaine murmured with his eyes wide as he stepped away from Kurt and stumbled on the futon. He fell flat on his ass and Kurt would have helped andreached out for himif he wasn't stepping away as well.

"What's up guys?" Penny's smiled, entering the room.

They boys looked up at laid down on the futon, holding a Vogue magazine, and Kurt awkwardly sat on the bed.

Penny raised an eyebrow. "Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah," Kurt answered nervously. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Yeah, totally." Blaine shrugged, still hiding behind the magazine.

"I didn't know you were into Vogue, Blaine," Penny pointed out,looking at the boy.

"I-I don't. I'm just looking at the hot models," Blaine lied, pointing to a picture of a shirtless dude wearing leather pants.

Penny shrugged. The guy did look hot, even though she still preferred them a little older. "Walter's stuck with some reports to finish, and he asked me to come here to check up on you guys. Do you wannaorder some Chinese food?"

"Can you order noodles with sweet sauce?" Blaine asked, before glancing up at Kurt and smirking. "I really like sweet things."

 

**

**************************

**

Caleb opened his eyes. His head was killing him. He didn't even remember getting back home. He groaned into his pillow before turning around and facing the window. It was raining and it was dark.

He didn't like the dark.

He never even if he didn't think it was a little pathetic, he probably would sleep with a light since his ex-wife had made fun of him the first time they slept together, Caleb came to conclusion that he was a little too old for that crap. There weren't bogymen inside of his clothes or under his bed.

Monsters didn't exist.

He heard a noise. Glass shattering. He huffed. "Damn cat!" he grunted, standing up. Caleb reached out for his baseball bat; this time he wouldn't let that damn cat escape. That little demon had been getting into his house and trying to kill Caleb's bird for months. That was enough.

With tentative steps, Caleb went downstairs. He flicked the living room lights on.

_That was not a cat._

"What the Hell!?" He screamed, almost stumbling backwards.

Standing in the middle of Caleb's living room was a boy. He couldn't be older than 19 and was dressed in black, the hood of his sweatshirt thrown back, revealing pale skin and the sharp lines of his collar bone. Long waves of tousled, ginger hair framed his face, wafting around his shoulders like fire, its tendrils curling and moving of their own volition due to the chilly wind that invaded the room through an open window.

A window that Caleb didn't open.

"Who are you? What're you doing in my house? I'm gonna call the cops!" Caleb screamed, tightening his grip on the baseball bat in his hands.

The boy looked up at the older man, his brown eyes staring off of a soft face. He appeared completely unafraid and there was something in his stare that made Caleb feel utterly terrified. It didn't made sense. From what Caleb could see, the boy wasn't carrying anything in his hands. Caleb was the one with the baseball bat. He shouldn't be feeling like that, frozen under that boy's stare.

But he did.

"T-THIS IS TRESSPASSING! I'M GOING TO CALL THE COPS," Caleb threatened, but the boy remained immobile.

Suddenly, words broke from the boy's full lips. "My name is Azrael," he said quietly, so quietly that Caleb barely heard him.

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE BEFORE I SMASH YOUR HEAD," Caleb shouted and gritted his teeth. His muscles were tenseand his jaw was clenched so tightly that it hurt a little.

They boy approached movements were precise and perfectly balanced unlike any teen Caleb had seen before. Someone as young as that boy shouldn't havebeen walkinglike a wild predator being held in a cage too small for it. He should've be bouncing around, full or energy and unwariness of his own body.

"Step back or I'm gonna have to hurt you!"

"Azrael is the name of an angel." Azrael put a lock of hair behind his ear. The sight of the black leather gloves he wore sent shivers down Caleb's back. "In some cultures, he's seen as messenger. For others he's the angel of retribution…"

"K-kid you, don't want me to hurt you," Caleb murmured, his eyes filled with tears. He would have to do it. He would have to smash the kid, Azrael's, head if he got any closer.

Closing his eyes, Caleb swung the bat towards Azrael.

_Smack._

He felt his bat colliding with something, but what made him open his eyes was the metallic sound that followed the impact.

He looked up. Azrael was only a few inches away from him, holding the bat with one of his gloved hands. His eyes were emotionless and his mouth formed a smirk.

"What the fuck are you?" Caleb screeched in a moment of hysteria, his chest filled with fear. The boy had stopped the swing of a baseball bat with a single hand. He didn't even flinch. He just held out the bat as if it didn't hurt…

"And in other cultures…"the boy spoke again, his voice now assuming a disturbingly playful tone. "Azrael is the angel of death," he concluded, snapping upwards and taking advantage of Caleb's shock to press him against the wall. Crouching over him like an animal, a growl rumbled deep in his throat as one of his gloved hands latched around the man's throat.

_"P-please d-don't, I-I, glarph,"_ Caleb choked out, the words barely escaping his mouth and tears burning in his eyes.

"Why didn't you just keep your mouth shut, Caleb? Greed is such a horrible sin," The boy said calmly and smiled, bringing his free hand to his own mouth and biting the edge of the leather glove, removing it slowly and revealing a metallic hand.

 

**

**************************

**

Azrael closed his eyes, savoring the silence.

Such a precious thing, he thought, taking a deep breath as if somehow he could inhale it and absorb the silence.

Nothing made Azrael happier than that, when he finally, finally, stopped people's screams. For him, there wasn't no better feeling than achieving silence after hours, sometimes days, of unstoppable screaming, begging, crying and, "please just kill me already!"

His cell phone rang, ruining the silence. He opened his eyes, and raspy breathing escaped his blood splattered lips.

"It's done," He said as soon he had answered the phone.

"Great," Adrian rushed before the line went silent.

Azrael smiled.

_Silence._

_He enjoyed the silence._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you have been wondering Azrael looks like this-> http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-llKZGc1ndK8/TZPj5OeKpDI/AAAAAAAAAJs/mNnBVSEYJNA/s1600/red%2Bhair.jpg


	19. Opposites

Standing motionless in the living room of a small apartment in Westerville's crappiest neighborhood, Tina looked around, adjusting her fake glasses and fixing her brown eyes on the place's tainted walls. Completely unrecognizable, she wore an old oversized sweater, bleached blue jeans and a wig of curly strawberry blond hair.

The apartment's owner, Mrs. Wilson, an old, sweaty woman with smeared make-up, dressed in an old red robe and a pair of purple slippers, watched with a satisfied grin as Tina examined the place.

"I'll have to install a generator, the wiring seems precarious," Tina said, reaching into her pockets for a wad of money tied up in a roll with an elastic band. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Sweetheart, you're paying me 6 months of rent in advance. You can install whatever you want. I don't care if you do satanic rituals here or whatever, as long you don't leave any goat blood staining my walls, we have a deal," The old woman said, stuffing the money inside her red bra.

Tina nodded and Mrs. Wilson handed her the keys "Here are your keys, Alicia," the woman said, curving her lips up in a smirk as if she could see right through Tina's lies. She probably could. After all, Mrs. Wilson didn't spent her whole time in that neighborhood without learn a thing one or two about lying. The old woman knew very well when someone was up to no good. She just didn't care as long she got her rent at the end of the month.

"I hope you enjoy the neighborhood!" The old woman snorted, leaving the apartment and closing the door behind her.

Tina rummaged through her purse, looking for her phone.

I found the place, she texted, quickly typing the location of the apartment before hitting send.

The answer came in a matter of seconds.

_Great_ , it said.

Tina sighed heavily. It wasn't great, it was horrible, disturbing and-

"Necessary," She reminded herself, shoving her phone back to her purse. "Necessary."

************************************

Penny sat down on the couch. She grabbed a pair of chopsticks and the closest box of food off of the coffee table, and dug in. "You know what's really weird?" She asked with her eyebrows furrowed together. Kurt and Blaine looked up at her, both sitting on the floor and supporting their backs against the couch. Their shoes were off so they could tuck their feet up underneath them.

"What?" Blaine asked, breaking up the crunchy Chinese noodles and putting them in the soup a few pieces at a time so they wouldn't get soggy when he ate it.

"Your father really knows how to cook," Penny said as she stuffed sweet 'n' sour chicken in her mouth. "I mean, he's a horrible house keeper, is completely disorganized and he always has this sour expression on his face... You don't look at Walter and think, "Oh I bet you make an awesome Crème Brule", but he does! He actually gave Bob from the robot flea market the recipe for religieuse," She cried in disbelief.

"What the hell is religieuse?" Blaine titled his head in confusion. Kurt watched him out of the corner of his eye, smiling with adoration at Blaine's triangular eyebrows furrowed together.

"It's French dessert, a pastry made of two choux pastry cases, one larger than the other, filled with crème pâtissière," He explained, bumping his knee against Blaine's and not missing how the corners of the other's boy lips lifted slightly.

Kurt's heart skipped a beat and he looked away, his mind racing. Blaine had kissed him, freaking kissed him, and then he had made promises, or insinuated them, but it didn't matter. Well it did, but in that moment Kurt couldn't bring himself to think about it. Because Blaine freaking Anderson had kissed him! And it was perfect, romantic and hot, and Blaine didn't run away afterwards. He stuck around and there they were now, eating Chinese food in the living room with Penny. And as astonishing as it may sound, the atmosphere between them didn't feel uncomfortable. It was a little awkward, but not in a bad way, just in an exciting one. Every time his leg touched Blaine's, Kurt felt warmth spreading through his chest.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Penny held out her chopsticks, bringing Kurt back to reality. "Walter knows how to make things like religieuse and crème pâtissiére! How's that even possible!? He used to shoot people!"

She looked down at her food and frowned. "Dammit, I forgot my fortune cookies in the kitchen…" Penny murmured before standing up. "But seriously, Walter's talent for cooking still doesn't make any sense!" She screamed, disappearing in the kitchen.

Kurt laughed, and it was a hearty, head-thrown-back-in-delight laugh. "She's exaggerating… Making religieuse isn't that hard," he dismissed, before noticing Blaine looking at him.

"What?" He mouthed, blushing slightly under Blaine's stare.

"You've um… got a little—uh," Blaine started, pointing at Kurt's chin. "Sauce."

Kurt blushed even more and quickly brought a napkin to his mouth.

He completely missed the spot.

Blaine laughed. "No- you missed the spot. Let me just-" he said, before reaching out and rubbing Kurt's chin clean with his thumb.

"There," Blaine breathed, eyes flickering up and meeting Kurt's as the android held his breath.

Once again, looking into Kurt's blue eyes made the atmosphere shift for Blaine. Jolts of anticipation shoot through his body and he got goosebumps. Suddenly, the whole act of touching Kurt's chin felt far more intimate than it was meant to be. Kurt was just there, so close to him and Blaine just wanted to wrap his arms around him and bring him even closer and-

"Enjoyed the meal? Buy one to go, too," Penny read out loud as she entered the living room, holding a broken fortune cookie in her hands. "What kind of fortune is that? I've never been so disappointed with a fortune cookie before… I already bought some for the go!" She looked up. Kurt seemed flustered and Blaine was supporting himself against the couch as if making a point of being distant from Kurt.

Penny felt a twinge of sadness in her chest. Damn, she thought. Blaine was probably still avoiding Kurt because of their almost kiss. She sighed and sat on the couch, deciding to talk as much as possible in order to dissipate the weird atmosphere between the boys.

"So, where did Walter learn to cook..."

************************************

Smelling like a mix of fresh soap, chlorine and something else entirely, Azrael walked into the office. His long red hair was dripping wet and his hands covered in gloves were shoved deep inside the pockets of his black pullover sweater.

On his sharply defined face, he held a serene expression. He was guiltless, as if he hadn't just dismembered a man a few hours ago. There was no sparkle inside of his eyes. They were cold and empty.

Adrian, on the other hand, couldn't hide his intensity. Sitting comfortably in a leather chair behind a luxurious glass table, the dark haired man watched Azrael with an eager expression on his face. He had always been an intense, avid person. As a child, Adrian would spend his days looking for ways to not have his intellect underestimated because of his peers. As teen, he was already renowned as one of the most brilliant minds of his generation and he was dedicated to building an empire of his own.

There was a reason why he inked the pale skin of his ribs with Veni, vidi, vici. He was man of conquers. He always got what he wanted and he wouldn't settle for less. Most people could tell that by just looking at him. There was this buzzing madness that lurked in his features; The madness of greatness, as his mother used to say. And such intensity only grew with the years, with the ticking clock that echoed inside of Adrian's head as time seeped between his fingers.

"Arza," He greeted. Adrian's mouth was like a knife and his smile was a flicker of light across the cutting edge.

"I never understood the long hair thing, taking into consideration what you do for a living… but I have to say, it does make your entrance much more epic," Adrian said, lips pulled in a grin as he kept rhythmically tapping his fingers on the glass table.

Azrael didn't respond, fixing his eyes on the other man's fingers. There was something mesmerizing about the way Adrian always tapped his long, piano player fingers, above any available surface while he talked. He never tore his blue eyes off the person he was talking to, always watching them with a sharp and private concentration, but he couldn't help but tap his fingers.

"You stink of chlorine. I suppose you taught Thompson a thing or two about greed," He said.

"Yes." Azrael nodded, throwing a bunch of Polaroid pictures on the desk.

Something that Azrael couldn't quite put his finger on stirred underneath the gleam of Adrian's blue eyes. "You shouldn't walk around carrying these…" He smirked, opening a drawer and grabbing an ashtray. He calmly collected the Polaroid pictures off his desk, one by one, unaffected by the disturbing shots portraying, with detail, what was left of Caleb Thompson's mutilated body.

He placed the pictures inside of the ashtray, before lighting a lighter. "I don't know why we didn't do this sooner."

"We were busy…" Azrael murmured, watching the fire consuming the proof of his crime "…Distracted."

"But we aren't anymore, are we?" Adrian murmured, his blue eyes meeting Azrael's brown ones.

"No, we're not," Azrael assured him, watching as Adrian's expression slowly morphed into a mask of pain.

The dark haired man tore his gaze from Azrael, his left hand throbbing. He dug his fingernails into the glass desk, his fingers twitching.

Azrael laced his gloved fingers with Adrian's, painfully gripping his hand until the spasm stopped.

"Find him," Adrian gritted with a clenched jaw, looking up into Azrael's emotionless eyes.

"I will," Azrael promised. He let go of Adrian's hand. "I will."

************************************

Blaine was used to people wanting to have sex with him.

He never said it out loud, or at least not when he was sober, because it would sound snobby. It was the truth. His looks and self-destructiveness made him the epitome of the classic 'bad attitude with a leather jacket' cliché, and there always someone who would dig that. Guys that wanted an adventure, a story to tell their friends about how well they were fucked by a hot piece of ass with piercings and a wicked smile. Blaine was a fantasy, a kink. His hook ups knew that he would walk away the next morning and most of the time they were okay with that. They already got what they wanted from him, his body.

And being a young, healthy guy with all parts in good working order, usually Blaine gave these guys want they wanted. A few minutes, or sometimes even an hour or two of access to his body, a mutual exchange of orgasms, and that was all. He was aware he was being used, but it was good to feel wanted. He felt less of a freak, less wrong and disgusting when he saw desire flickering in others people's eyes. The guys who saw him as a fantasy weren't asking for anything he couldn't give them. He could share his body, but he knew he would be damned the day he allowed someone to get close enough to have his heart.

But then there he was, brushing his teeth, listening to Penny saying goodbye to Kurt in the kitchen and not having a clue of what he was going when he was alone with Kurt again. Blaine wasn't a fantasy for Kurt. In fact, he was pretty sure that Kurt would actually be happy if he put the leather jacket aside.

For some reason, Blaine couldn't wrap his head around the fact Kurt actually liked him, not only the façade or the leather, and that was, well, terrifying. It made Blaine's hands sweat and his pulse increase insanely faster every time Kurt fixed his blue eyes on him. In fact, whenever Kurt was around, Blaine's heart decided to remind him that it did exist, and that it was capable of developing feelings. Yes, feelings, and for a fashionable, ridiculously attractive, argumentative Ice Queen…His Ice Queen.

And that was a fine cosmic joke, wasn't it? How lame was it that Blaine was already turning what were once insults into pet names? PET NAMES!

"Really Anderson? Couldn't you be lamer?" he said to himself, looking up at the mirror.

Blaine didn't feel worthy of the looks Kurt gave him when he thought Blaine wasn't paying attention. And how fucked up it was that he felt more comfortable with being a fantasy, an easy fuck, an "Oh my God you should have seen his piercings!" , but felt unworthy of the affectionate gaze of someone as amazing as Kurt.

"Completely fucked up," he murmured, supporting himself on the bathroom sink.

"See you tomorrow, Blainey! I have to go now!" Penny knocked on the door, startling him.

"A-alright Penny. See ya!" He said, running a hand through his curls. He heard the front door being closed and Kurt's steps echoing in the silent apartment as he walked to their room, not closing the bedroom door behind him.

"Man up, Anderson," Blaine murmured under his breath, gripping the door's handle and finally working up the courage to leave the bathroom. "You can do this."

**

********************************

**

Artie's phone buzzed with a new message.

_Gunter Schneider, possibly German, worked in Avalon industries. I need everything you can find on him. Urgent- W,"_ It said, causing the hacker to let go of his X-box console.

"Well buddy, it seems like we have work to do…" He stretched out, looking up towards Eugene.

"TOO BAD, BECAUSE I WAS TOTALLY KICKING YOUR ASS ON THIS," Eugene groaned, standing up.

A sound of disbelief broke though Artie lips. "No you weren't!" he scoffed.

"I WAS, AND YOU KNOW IT," Eugene said smugly before walking away towards the lab, leaving Artie behind with a shocked expression and his gamer pride wounded, because Eugene had been totally kicking his ass at that game.

************************************

Sitting crossed legged on the bed, Kurt looked up soon as Blaine entered the room, eyes unreadable as he bit the inside of his cheeks. "Please tell me it wasn't some sort of sick joke," The android murmured quietly, even before Blaine could say anything, his blue eyes filled with expectation.

Taken aback, Blaine stood motionless in the bedroom's doorstep, frozen under the android's stare.

"Just please…I-I," Kurt sighed, and looked down at his hands "The kiss, the little speech…Y-you wouldn't be that cruel right? You're better than that," he said, suddenly being taken by a wave of insecurity and doubt. What if Blaine was just messing around with him? Why would someone like him want anything to do with someone like Kurt?

"No!" Blaine exclaimed, crossing the room and kneeling in front of Kurt. "I-I wouldn't do that to you, Kurt," He said, squeezing Kurt's knees and searching for the other boy's eyes…

Kurt took a deep breath. "So it was-"

"Real! Awesome!?" Blaine interrupted. "Amazing! Hot!? A bit life changing maybe? I don't know, take your pick," he smirked, watching how Kurt's cheeks flushed a little.

"So where do we stand now? What're we-" He gestured behind them, looking at Blaine, waiting.

The older boy didn't seem to get it.

Kurt took a deep breath. "What did that kiss mean for you, Blaine? Are we dating now…?" he asked tentatively. Blaine just assured him that the kiss wasn't some sort of sick joke, but that didn't mean that the kiss held the same meaning for Blaine as it did for Kurt. He didn't want to sound needy or demanding, but that was his first kiss, and Kurt wasn't really up to be another one of Blaine's friends with benefits. Call him naïve and old-fashioned, but he was a silly romantic after all. So it was better to come clean about this whole thing, figure out what they had going on between them, while Kurt still could fool himself that he wasn't developing feelings for Blaine, while he could still pretend he was able to move on.

"I don't like labels," Blaine said, making Kurt's heart skink. Of course Blaine would come up with something like that. Of course that kiss wouldn't have meant a thing for him.

"But that doesn't mean that what happened was meaningless for me! It wasn't! You have to believe me Kurt, t-that kiss meant a lot to me, a lot," Blaine said, making the tightness in Kurt's chest ease up enough for him to breathe again.

"I just don't want to screw this up, okay? Because that's what I do, I screw things up. That's just me, and I don't want to do that with you, with this." Blaine gestured between them both, nervously trying to make a point.

Kurt urged forward, gripping his Blaine's hands. "Blaine-"

"Just hear me out, okay?" Blaine interrupted, lacing their fingers together. "I-I've never had a serious relationship. I've had fuck buddies, guys whose names I didn't even know, but I've never shared with anyone anything that had the slightest resemblance to a relationship. And I don't want to rush things or label this, what we have… At least not now. I want to figure this out, I want us to figure this out together, so I don't end freaking out and fucking this up."

Kurt nodded, looking down at their intertwined hands. "So where does that leave us?"

"Can't we just be us?" Blaine pleaded "Like without labels, without big announcements? I still don't know how Walter would react, and my mom, well, last time she saw me with a boy she preferred to fool herself by thinking he was a girl…" He trailed of bitterly. What would happen if she was forced to face the truth? Blaine just couldn't lose Barbara. Most of the time they couldn't even look in each other's eyes, but he just couldn't lose her.

"I get it." Kurt nodded and bit his lip. "I don't know much about your mother, but I don't think Walter would treat you differently."

"But he would take you away from here." Blaine could feel his cheeks reddening. He wasn't used to being so open and honest about his feelings. "Walter would never allow us to live under the same roof. Under that grumpy façade, he's kind of an old fashioned guy…. And I don't want to be apart from you," He confessed, eyes fixed on Kurt's hands.

It was surreal. Blaine never felt as exposed as he did at that moment, not even in all the times he had been naked with other people. It was like being torn open and for the first time in years putting his heart on the line. "I want to get to know you better. And I have to admit, I-I also want to get to know Walter better… I don't want be sent back to my mother's, having Walter only visiting me once a year," He murmured probably acknowledging that for the first time himself. He wanted his dad, he wanted to be able to call Walter "dad" again.

There wasn't much Kurt could say after that. Blaine had lost his brother, and his relationship with his mother wasn't the best. Kurt wouldn't allow his sappy notions of romance get in the way of what could be a new start for Blaine and Walter's relationship. He owned that not only to Blaine, who obviously needed his father, but to Walter as well. The federal agent's life had been nothing but a mess lately, already being turned upside down countless times since he had decided to help Kurt.

"I get it, I really do, but I have to know, being us means… being us like exclusively?" Kurt understood that he and Blaine had a long way head of them before they could adjust to these feelings. But he didn't see that happening if Blaine kept seeing other guys. "I understand where you're coming from and that you don't want to label what we have, at least not for now, but I can't do this if we're not exclusive. I just don't see how we're going to get to know each other if we are seeing other guys,"

"Of course being us means being together exclusively," Blaine assured him, his hazel eyes wide and blush on his cheeks. "I was serious when I told you I wanted to get to know you better. I don't have any idea how I'm supposed to do that, b-but I'm willing to give it a shot…"

Hearing those words made Kurt feel lumps forming in his throat, because damn, there just was so much Blaine didn't know about him.

Would Blaine still be willing to give them a shot if he knew the truth? That Kurt was an android? That he was the reason why Walter was risking his life in an unofficial and most likely illegal investigation… Would Blaine still look at Kurt like that, with such affection and warmth or would he be disgusted, revolted by Kurt's true nature? Could he hate Kurt for what he was?

That was a possibility, right? After all, Blaine didn't say anything when Puck bragged about himself for damaging a machine... What if, occasionally, Blaine also felt like vandalizing and damaging machines? Would Blaine feel guilty if he hurt Kurt, if he broke his heart by rejecting him once he found out that Kurt was actually an android?

Kurt didn't know.

He was looking right into Blaine's eyes, once again mesmerized by the little spots of green in the boy's irises and he still couldn't tell if Blaine would hate him, or if he would feel betrayed when Kurt told him the truth… Kurt had never wished so badly that things were different.

The android thought he would never hate being what he was as much as he did that night at Santana's party, after the whole balcony fiasco, but he was wrong. God, he had been so wrong. And worst of all was that now he also felt wrong. He felt like an abomination, now more than ever aware of how every single fiber of his body was artificial. The blue of his eyes weren't inherited from his mother, in the same way the blood flowing through his veins was nothing but useless red substance… And the feeling of his heart quickening when Blaine touched the skin of his wrists? A mere illusion as a result of sophisticated programming. Kurt didn't even have a heart.

How come he had feelings then? How come he could feel this suffocating pain consuming him inside out?

Kurt bit his lip, looking away.

Blaine knelt in front of him. He was being so open, so bare about his feelings. It was unfair that he was doing that now, after Kurt had already resigned himself to the fact that no one would ever look at him like that? How was he supposed to tell Blaine the truth? He would be risking missing the only chance he may ever have at love?

"Kurt please, just don't-" Blaine murmured, his voice strained and afraid. He cupped Kurt's face, forcing the android to meet his eyes again. "I don't know what's going on in your head right now, but please give me a chance. I know that right now I can't offer you a movie romance, but I want to figure out how to get there, how to be the charming prince at the end of the story…I just don't know how to do all that right now," He said, making the lumps in Kurt's throat get bigger so that they practically suffocated him. He couldn't find his voice…

Kurt just couldn't do this anymore.

He gripped Blaine's jacket, bringing him close, wanting one last taste of Blaine lips before telling him the truth and being forced to witness all the affection and warmth he could see in the boy's eyes towards him dissipate, maybe even be replaced by disgust or hate. So Kurt crushed his lips against Blaine's desperately, tangling his fingers through the older boys curls, savoring the illusion of his own inexistent heart slamming against Blaine's rib cage one last time.

"I'm taking that as a yes," Blaine chucked breathlessly against Kurt lips.

"Blaine, there's something you don't know about-" Kurt started, still gripping Blaine's jacket, somehow still not ready to let the other boy go.

"We'll figure it out…" Blaine smiled foolishly "I know I don't know where the hell to go from here, but I'll figure out, we'll figure this out together,"

For the briefest moment, Kurt felt tears burning in his eyes, but soon the suffocating feeling in his chest was reduced to a small twinge. Blaine didn't give him the time to be even more consumed by guilt or to be asphyxiated by his lies. The other boy just leaned in again, gripping Kurt's knees and smashing their lips together. All Kurt could think of is that Blaine's lips were really soft and delicate, and how he felt like he was finally able to breathe again. Blaine's warm palm curled along the side of his jaw, and Kurt remembered that he was supposed to kiss back, so he did. He pressed forward, pulling Blaine close by grabbing his shirt and allowing the other boy to put his tongue in his mouth. Kurt didn't spare a moment to worry that he wasn't experienced or that he was a freaking robot. He let Blaine take the lead and bit the older boy's lower lip when he got the chance.

After kissing Kurt senseless, Blaine began to slowly lighten their kisses. "We should go to bed," he murmured, looking away from Kurt's lips as he tried to keep the rational side of his brain working.

"Wait- what?" Kurt frowned, adorably breathless.

"Walter's going to show up any time, and I don't we'll manage to fool him looking like we do now," Blaine laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. They were in fact looking like a mess. Their lips were swollen, cheeks were flustered, and the curls on the back of Blaine's hair were undone from where Kurt had his fingers tangled just a few seconds ago… "You know what? Keep the bed, I'll sleep on the futon tonight…" Blaine squeezed Kurt's knee, smiling.

Kurt smirked. "Look at you, Blaine Anderson, being a gentleman."

Blaine snorted, standing up. "Well, I guess you bring out the best in me, Ice Queen."

Kurt rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "Really Blaine? You're still gonna call me that?" he asked, but suddenly Blaine leaned in and his lips were back on Kurt's as some sort of goodnight kiss.

But yeah, Blaine was probably going to keep calling Kurt that.

************************************

"Please Artie, tell me you've found something on Günter Schneider. I'm really not in the mood to pay another visit to Thompson," Walter murmured, mouth full, phone on speaker and eyes fixed on the road. He had his right hand gripping the wheel while the other held a half eaten burger he got from a drive-thru burger place on his way home.

Walter was starving.

"Well the good news is that, yes, I found information on Gunter Schneider, the bad news is…" Artie took a deep breath. "Well, the guy's dead, Walter."

"What?" Walter gasped. "You've got to be kidding me!" he cried, almost dropping his burger.

"Nope, Gunter Schneider's body, or well, what was left of it, was found two weeks before Burt's death in a small apartment in one of Berlin's worst neighborhoods," Artie said before taking a sip of the coffee Eugene had made for him. If there was one thing Eugene could do, it was make coffee. Man, Artie wasn't even sure how he lived until now being deprived of such the bitter deliciousness.

"Wait, did you just say what was left of the body?" Walter asked, left eyebrow raised.

"Yep, Günter's death wasn't pretty at all." Artie wheeled around, putting down his coffee and grabbing the files he download from the German police that Eugene had translated earlier. "He was tortured for days, mutilated, and burned…Damn, I'd rather spend a season or two in freaking Guantánamo than ten minutes on the hands of Gunter's killer."

"That doesn't sound right…" Walter took a bite of his burger.

"You bet this doesn't sound right. What happened to Gunter was everything but right…" Artie rolled his eyes, flipping through pictures and crime reports. Photo after photo of various body parts covered in blood, bruises, and gashes flashed before his eyes. In some photos, the body parts didn't even look as if one day they had belonged to a human.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Walter frowned "The modus operandi doesn't match with the profile of Burt's killer."

"What d'ya mean? " Artie asked.

"Whoever killed Gunter wasn't worried about being discrete, this person didn't even hide the body or what was left of it… whatever, the thing is, I think the killer was trying to send a message." Walter let go of his burger and wiped his chin, his hazel eyes narrowing into a wrinkled glare as he gripped the wheel with both hands.

"A message for whom?" Artie frowned. At that moment, Eugene entered the room.

"I don't know, but the modus operandi seems too different. I mean we still need to study the reports more carefully but still… They already found the cause of death?" Walter asked, mind racing with millions of theories and conjectures.

"The state the body was found in made it practically impossible to establish the cause of death," Artie read from Eugene's notes, before the robot stepped in his way and pointed down to a specific paragraph. "Oh! And the police only recognized the body as belonging to Gunter because the head was left intact… and then they ran a series of DNA tests with the others parts to make sure they were really his," Artie said, He looked up and gave Eugene a thumbs up for his clever thinking.

"Yeah, definitely trying to send a message." Walter nodded. "This killer is not the same guy that killed Burt. Hummel's killer was desperately trying to erase anything that could connect him or her to Kurt's building. This person carefully planned everything. Burt would die, and Kurt would be infected by a malware. Once the police would discover Kurt was actually an android it would be too late, his system would be already shut down for good. The only flaw in this killer's plan was that this person didn't count on Burt getting under the FDCT's radar after buying some suspicious technology," Walter concluded, eyes glowing because suddenly everything seemed much clearer. The puzzle pieces were finally falling in place.

"Assassins that use poison do it because they want a clean death. Usually they're physically weak or have a certain aversion to blood and violence. They can't overpower their targets and they are too afraid of being caught, so they plan cautiously. Günter's killer wasn't weak. This killer was vicious and he had enjoyed every minute of it… Damn, he probably got off on it."

"So what you're trying to say is that the deaths aren't connected?" Artie furrowed his eyebrows together. He got it, two opposite methods of operation indicated two killers, but still, it was a bit too coincidental that Gunter was killed a couple of weeks before Burt?

"No, that's actually the opposite of what I'm trying to say." Walter grinned. "I think Gunter Schneider's vicious death was one of the main reasons behind Burt's death. Gunter's killer sent a message by murdering him like he did… He gave the message that, "You can't hide, I'm after you" and Burt's killer got it and desperately initiated an attempt of witness elimination."

"…Who was frustrated by you and Penny the moment you guys were assigned Burt's case of the possession of potentially illegal technology," Artie murmured as his stomach bundled into a tight coil of knots. "Fuck," he gasped wide eyed, running his fingers through his hair.

"Walter, what we are going to now? There more than one person after Kurt, after all of us, since we are helping him…" Artie murmured, leaning back on his wheel chair.

"What are we going to do?" Walter sighed. The obvious fear in Artie's voice was rippling through him. "You're going to send me translated versions of the reports from Gunter's case and everything else you have on him soon as possible. I'm serious Artie, I want every single file. I want to know everything about this guy's life… And then you're going to put an alarm system on the house because more than ever we need to be careful," Walter said, his voice sober as he pressed his lips in a thin line.

Yes, things were getting clearer and the puzzle pieces were finally making some sense but as they approached the truth behind Kurt's origins they also ran blindly towards a yet unmeasured danger.


	20. No turning back

"So here's what Artie got on Günter Schneider," Walter murmured, handing Penny a bunch of files. His voice was a low growl, barely audible above the sounds of the photocopiers and phones ringing in the cubicle spaces just outside the door.

"Alright, so besides the fact that he's dead, which is so fucked up, what else do we know?" Penny murmured, flipping through the pages of the file in her gave her an odd look."What?" She raised an eyebrow."You just swore," Walter murmured."

So what? I do that sometimes," Penny dismissed. Walter didn't seem to believe her. "I do! When I burn my tongue because of coffee or smash my finger in the car's door and well, when every single suspect of the case I happen to be working on is fucking dead," She kept looking at her as if she had grown a third head.

"Sorry, the bad words keep coming out of your mouth but I still can't process that you're saying them…" He shook his head. "Anyways, so here's what we know about Gunter Schneider. Well first, he's in fact German, born in Frankfurt and the son of Zoya Baskov-"

"That doesn't sound German…" Penny narrowed her eyes.

"Because Gunter's mother isn't German, she's actually Russian. She left Moscow at the age of 14 and married Adler Schneider 4 years later. But things didn't work out between them so they got divorced a few months after Gunter's birth. Then Zoya returned to Moscow, and Gunter ended up being raised by his father who never remarried," Walter read out loud, still paging through the reports until one of the pages of the folder forced him to grind to a halt. "And apparently, Gunter had a troubled childhood…There are reports of neglect and abuse made by neighbors but Child Protection Services never managed to actually open a case against Adler due to the lack of substantial proof and Gunter's refusal to cooperate with social workers. Since he was six, teachers pointed out that Gunter, despite his anti-social behavior, had an over-average intelligence. He was even given the opportunity to try out for the Federal School for the Highly Gifted in Schwäbisch Gmünd, but he never showed up to the interview."

"He looked so sad," Penny murmured, flipping through Gunter's school pictures. Despite being atypically tall for a teen, Gunter somehow seemed fragile, so skinny under his oversized clothes as he hid behind layers of messy strawberry blond hair. And Penny couldn't help but notice the fading bruises on his left arm and how the boy's nails were bitten. Everything in him screamed "problems at home" and the dark circles under his eyes only conferred to him an unsuitable weariness to his features

"His anti-social behavior only aggravated with the years but he managed to graduate and his grades were good enough for him to get a scholarship in Robotic Engineering at an University far from Frankfurt."

"And away from his dad," Penny pointed nodded

"Yep, away from his dad… Well, Gunter Schneider graduated a few years later with good grades and was offered a scholarship to get his master's degree but he declined."

"Why?" Penny frowned."That's when things get weird… He just left Germany after graduating, just like that, out of nowhere, and came to the United States where he applied for a position ay Avalon Industries as a supervisor in the production of industrial robots."

"So he threw away a scholarship to move to the US to work as a supervisor for the production of industrial robots?" Penny asked slowly, trying to wrap her head around what Walter had just told rubbed the stubble on his chin, his eyebrows furrowed together.

"I know! Weird isn't? I mean, the position wasn't really discrepant with his curriculum, after all he didn't have any specialization, but still, he threw away a scholarship to one of the best German universities to work in Avalon's industries." Walter pointed to the file in his hands, showing Penny a picture of Gunter dressed in white, a red name tag hanging on his neck and the Avalon logo embroidered on his shirt.

"That doesn't make sense at all," Penny murmured, taking a good look at Gunter's picture. He looked much more carefree, his big blue eyes hiding under thick glasses, but shinning with excitement. He didn't even have the scar in his left cheek as Kurt had described. "He seemed happier, excited, like he was part of something big, something great."

"Maybe Project Metempsychosis." Walter shifted uncomfortably in his suit, fighting the urge to run his fingers through his curls that were brushed to the side with the harsh strokes of a comb just a few hours ago and were already falling out of place even though it was barely ten in the morning.

"Wait a minute!" Penny gasped eyes wide. "The Angelus Complex, the supposedly abandoned complex where Kurt was built, it was located just a few miles away from the industrial park where the industrial robots were built. And Kurt, in some aspects, is similar to an industrial model. He has a shielded nuclear power cell and everything …"

"That can't be a coincidence," Walter muttered barely audible."And as a Supervisor, Gunter would have free access to any complex." he looked up at Penny's brown eyes.

"Everything leads us to Avalon industries," The ginger woman concluded, lips pressed in a thin line.

"But that doesn't make sense. Why would Avalon Industries invest in the creation of an android like Kurt? That would not only be illegal but extremely counterproductive; Kurt's fabrication was an expensive and intricate process, not something that could be easily done in larger scales, in mass production. That's not Avalon's style. They produce disposable legal robots that became obsolete in a matter of months, as soon as the next generation is released with useless upgrades and applications that make people think that they need to have them. And even if they did invest in creating robots humanlike, why use Kurt Hummel's image? Why they would build something that resembles a dead boy?" Walter sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He felt a thick coil of uneasiness in the pit of his stomach. Something didn't fit. They were missing something, something big.

"You're right, Avalon Industries would have had no interest in building Kurt, but maybe someone inside of Avalon Industries did," Penny pointed out, looking at Walter hopefully.

"But why would someone have such an interest?" Walter cried out in frustration. "I mean, it makes sense for Burt to want to build an android in the image of his dead son, but what would someone inside of Avalon's industry gain from that?"

"I don't know, I don't have any idea," Penny murmured quietly. "And that's what scares me the most, Walter."

Walter looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"The fact we don't know the interests and intentions behind Kurt's creation! There are just too many deaths, too much gore in this case for us all to cling onto the hope that the person that financed this did it from the kindness of their heart. There are people after Kurt, and we don't know what they're planning to do if they get their hands on him," Penny said, her voice cracked and her eyes burning. Sandra, Burt, Gunter… there was only one constant in this case and it was death. Walter let go of his files, clutching Penny against his chest and doing his best to whisper assuredly,"We are going to figure out this Penny, we will."

They had to.

*******************

"I don't want to go," Blaine murmured, his forehead pressed against Kurt's, warm breath ghosting on the android's lips.

Blaine was never exactly fond of going to school, but damn, today he was especially not in the mood for it. It was exams week, everyone was miserable, and well, at home he had Kurt, all gorgeous and sweet, and they had the house all to themselves. Walter had left earlier, leaving a note behind promising he would be home for dinner. They could spend the day making out and maybe even watching one of those cheesy chick flicks Kurt loved so much.

"Yes, you do." Kurt smirked "C'mon, you'll do great on you exams." He smiled.

Blaine rolled his eyes, frowning. "No, I won't."

"Yes you will." Kurt pressed his lips softly on Blaine's. "You can't skip classes anymore. You said yourself that you wanted to build a better relationship with Walter… what if he calls school and discovers that you're skipping classes again? During finals week? That'll cause more conflicts between you two."

"What's one more conflict? It's not like we don't have 10 years of unsolved business." Blaine snorted, ignoring the way his stomach knotted at his own words. He just couldn't help himself. He always made fun of the things that actually dilacerated him on the inside.

"Blaine." Kurt gripped the older boy's neck. "Don't be like that."

"Okay, okay, I'll go to school." Blaine rolled his eyes. "Why are you so eager to get rid of me Ice queen, huh?" he teased, leaning in for a kiss.

Kurt turned his head, dodging away from Blaine's lips. "Hmm… I think it's the nickname thing, I just can't stand to be called Ice Queen anymore." He smirked, making Blaine laugh.

"Alright, I'll give you a break then," Blaine murmured, disengaging himself from Kurt's arms and grabbing his bag from the couch.

"Have a nice day," Kurt said, opening the apartment's door and holding it for Blaine.

Blaine growled. "I kind of hate you a bit for convincing me to actually go, you know that right?" He said, heaving his bag over his shoulder.

"No, you don't." Kurt battled his eyelashes, faking innocence as he leaned against the doorframe.

"I do." Blaine smiled, before invading Kurt's personal space. "Just a little bit," he murmured before pulling Kurt in for another kiss. It was not gentle, but it was slow and deep.

Kurt anchored a hand on Blaine neck. "A little bit?" He chuckled.

"Only a little bit," Blaine breathed, his voice almost of a tangible quality against Kurt's lips. He pulled the android closer again, and Kurt went forward easily. They kissed for long minutes until Kurt couldn't remember who he was outside of what Blaine was sharing with him. It was just so overwhelming, Blaine's perfume, his lips, the fluttering of his incredibly long eyelashes and the texture of his skin beneath Kurt's fingertips…

It wasn't until Kurt heard a loud gasp behind him that he was brought to reality, the same reality where they were pretty much making out at the front door of Walter's apartment, where anyone could see them, including Walter himself.

"T-Tina! Hi!" Kurt gasped, tearing himself from Blaine arms. He was so embarrassed, mortified, but at same relieved. It was Tina that had caught him, not Walter, or Penny or any other nosy neighbor who would end up letting Blaine's father know what was going on between Kurt and his son.

"I-I should probably going," Blaine murmured tentatively, not really sure of what he was supposed to do in that situation. Should he introduce himself? What would he introduce himself as?

Luckily, Kurt saved him from explaining the complicated, and yet all sorts of perfect concept of their relationship to that complete stranger. The android nodded, squeezing Blaine's shoulder. "Y-yeah, we don't want you to get late! Good luck on your tests," he said, voice strained as Tina kept staring at him, wide eyed.

Blaine made his away to the elevator, looking back a few times, before slipping inside of it.

"What were you doing?" Tina cried as soon as the elevator's doors were closed. Kurt raised an eyebrow. Well it was pretty obvious what he had been doing. He didn't understand the horrified look on Tina's face. She was looking at him as if she had just caught Kurt doing something atrocious.

"I-I was kissing Blaine… We're kind of together," Kurt explained defensively.

Tina tore her eyes from his, burying her face in her palms. "Y-You aren't supposed to do that," She cried, her hands trembling and her voice cracked.

Kurt froze, feeling his stomach flip. He took a shaky breath. "W-what's that supposed to mean?" he took a step back. Tina couldn't be a homophobe, she couldn't. She was one of his few friends. They watched musicals together, they cooked together! Tina came from New York for God's sake! She couldn't be a homophobe… _Could she?_

Tina ran her fingers through her hair, not really looking at him. It was like she wasn't even there. Kurt could see her mind racing with a million of thoughts. "A-Are you sure?" she murmured, almost inaudibly. "Kurt, are you sure about the way you feel for that boy?" She practically demanded, finally meeting Kurt's eyes.

Kurt couldn't believe it. There was pity in her eyes. She pitied him, as if he was some sick person, some sort of freak.

He felt lumps forming in his throat. "A-are you homophobe!?" he cried, stepping away further away from the Asian girl. That was the only explanation for the way Tina was acting. "I can't believe it…" He gritted his teeth together.

Suddenly, it was like a wire shorting out in the pitch of his stomach. It was heating up. Sizzling. He felt anger boiling up through his veins. "I thought you were my friend!" he murmured, hurt. He could've been fated to get a lot of crap for being a robot, but Kurt wouldn't let anyone judge him for being gay. No, not for that. No one would look down at him for loving whoever he choose to love.

Tina open and closed her mouth several times before the words finally broke through her lips. "I-I'm sorry Kurt," she murmured, before turning her back to him and walking towards her apartment.

*******************

Tina opened the apartment door with shaky hands, leaning against it. It took a matter of seconds before she collapsed on her knees, hyperventilating. Everything was wrong, so, so wrong.

_When had everything turned so wrong?_

_When had she turned into such a monster?_

Kurt was in love. Maybe he didn't know yet, but he was, and she could tell only by looking at him. And that wasn't supposed to happen, that didn't fit the plan, the fucking plan that dragged Tina to this town, to this empty apartment where everything that surrounded her was lies and guilt.

Kurt wasn't supposed to fall in love. He was a robot, he was a thing. He couldn't fall in love…

How was that even possible? Did that boy, Blaine, know the truth about Kurt? Would he be heartbroken when Project Metempsychosis would be, once and for all, terminated? Would Blaine ever recover if Kurt went missing without a trace, would he move on, or spend his whole life waiting for Kurt to come back?

Tina didn't know.

She didn't want to.

With her hands, Tina let out the sobs that insisted on breaking through her. She looked around, at all the fake portraits hanging on the walls. They were all fake, all lies. She didn't even know the people in those pictures; they were just random portraits she had printed so that her façade would look believable. More than ever, that apartment felt suffocating, with all its hidden corners and crevices.

Desperately taken by the need to see something real, a reminder of why she was doing that, Tina stood up and ran to the kitchen. She stumbled and fell on the way, but she didn't stop, she couldn't. She crawled until she reached the kitchen cabinet, opening its door and pulling out the energy drinks she kept there, to get them out of the way.

Stashed away in the pantry was a small notebook with a stupid Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pen stuck in its wire coil and bright green ink smudged on the rubber grip. Tina flipped the pages of the small notebook. Glued to one of the last pages was a Polaroid picture.

Gritting her teeth together, Tina ripped off the page, clenching to the picture between trembling fingers. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she ran her black fingernail over the picture, a small smile ghosting her lips. She looked so young. She was so young, blue streaks still in her hair and black clothes contrasting with her pale skin. Tina also looked so care free; laughing at the young man who stood beside her while he managed to balance a green, teenage mutant ninja turtle pen on his nose. His long strawberry blond hair fell onto his shoulders, and behind thick dark framed glasses his blue eyes sparkled with a childlike innocence.

"I'm sorry…" She sobbed, clenching the picture against her chest, shoulders thrumming, her soul coming apart at the seams as guilt spread through her chest and perched there, never to leave. "I'm so, so sorry"

When had everything turned so wrong?

She didn't know, but it was too late already. There was no turning back now.

*******************

Quinn sighed in frustration as she sat up on the grass where she had been taking an unscheduled and not entirely permitted break. Where the hell was Blaine? She cursed. He was supposed to meet her there an hour ago. They always skip Mrs. Brown's classes together.

She shoved her purple sunglasses further up her nose. "Fuck this," she murmured under her breath. Quinn was tired of waiting for Blaine.

She stood up and dug through her bag for her headphones. She unwound them quickly and jammed them over her messy pink hair. Pressing play, she felt her red lips curling slightly as her favorite song echoed in her ear. Only music could make her feel better. It had been a shitty day so far. But, hey, when wasn't it a shit day, she thought. As she entered the school's hallways she came to the conclusion that it had been a crappy day for everyone. Even the perfect cheerleaders seemed to be tired and depressed, not surprising considering it was exams week. Another wonder of their wonderful education system whose only goal was destroy everybody's hopes and dreams by suppressing their talents and personalities so that they could fulfill the expectations of a capitalist and heteronormative society.

She rolled her eyes, lamenting, not for the first time, the fact that smoking was such an outdoor-based activity. She even considered to break the rules, and maybe earn a suspension, a break for a few days, but then something caught her attention and her eyes were fixed on her best friend, the little bastard that was supposed to meet her an hour ago on the grassy slope next to the bleachers. Unlike McKinley High's entire student population, he didn't seem to be completely miserable. He was actually smiling, looking down at his phone and smiling at some stupid text!

"Hey B," Quinn said, supporting herself on the locker besides Blaine's, startling her best friend.

Blaine quickly and quite suspiciously shoved his phone on his pocket. "H-hey Q, what's up?" he greeted, closing the locker door.

"Did you get laid last night?" Quinn inquired, crossing her arms above her chest. Blaine was looking too happy, too relaxed. He must have gotten some because that was the only explanation for his behavior.

"W-What? No!" Blaine shifted, walking away from Quinn.

She followed him, narrowing her eyes. "You're fucking glowing, Anderson! There's happiness coming out of you, and it's disgusting and unlike you. It's exams week for Christ's sake, where's the bad mood? The usual jerkiness?"

"Sorry if my mood bothers you, but nothing happened," He dismissed, not really looking at her and walking fast as if he was actually interested in getting to class on time.

Quinn's lips curved into a mischievous smile. "Oh really, nothing happened?"

Blaine nodded, still not looking at her.

"Oh great, so you won't have a problem if I do this then!" She smiled, putting her hand down in his pocket and grabbing his phone. With experienced fingers and the knowledge of Blaine's password, she quickly went through his messages as she ran away from him.

"Quinn! What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" Blaine shouted, grabbing Quinn's arm and finally stopping her.

**_"Good luck on your tests! xx – Kurt,_** " She read out loud, turning around to meet Blaine's hazel eyes. "Kurt?" She raised an eyebrow teasingly, her lips curving into a wicked grin. "As in Kurt Hummel, aka the boy you almost kissed at Santana's party?"

"Give me that." Blaine grunted as he put his phone to back in his pocket. He was so going to change his password again.

"Oh my God" Quinn gasped, eyes shining "So it is him! And don't even try to deny it, something happened between you two! There were little X's at the end of that text, little X's!"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Blaine said and gritted his teeth, turning his back to Quinn, blush on his cheeks as he walked away with heavy steps, his fists clenched to his side.

Quinn rolled her eyes, smiling. "Aaaalright, alright, you don't need to tell me anything if you don't want to!" She gave up, throwing her arms around his shoulders and stopping him from running away from her. "But tell me this, does it feels good? You know, when there are actually feelings involved?" She asked tentatively, burying her face it his back as if embarrassed by the question.

Blaine covered her arms with his, comfortable in her embrace. "I-Its nice," he confessed, almost too quietly, making Quinn burst out into giggles as she noticed the tip of his ears going red and the corner of his lips lifting up.

"You fucker!" She snickered, letting go of him and punching him lightly on the arm.

"Ouch! W-why are you punching me?" He laughed, holding her wrists.

"Because you weren't going to even tell me! You bastard!" She shrilled, disengaging from his grip to punch him harder. There was no heat in her words, she was not even slightly mad at him, just glad, unbelievably pleased that her best friend was finally giving himself the chance to be happy.

They were both laughing loudly, disturbing the depressive atmosphere and receiving odd looks as result, but Quinn couldn't care less because that shitty day had just become a lot less shitty.

*******************

"Oh my God…" Artie gasped, almost spitting his coffee all over his computer.

"WHAT?" Eugene said, taking of his headphones.

Artie wheeled around the lab. "Remember how I told that you I was trying to figure out when Gunter went to back Europe?" He asked, grabbing a sheet of paper which was coming out of his printer. Eugene nodded.

"Well I did, and it was surprisingly easy. He just bought plane tickets eight years ago to London and then left."

Eugene titled his head to the side. "AND DISCOVERING THAT WAS THE CAUSE OF SUCH A DRAMATIC 'OH MY GOD'?"

"No, this was." Artie handed Eugene a sheet of paper.

The robot quickly scanned it before wheeling his chair around. "HE DIDN'T TRAVEL ALONE…"

"No, he didn't, he bought two tickets," Artie read out loud. "There was someone with him, and according with the registers it was a guy, who travelled under the name of Adler Schneider."

"HIS FATHER?" Eugenie asked puzzled. That didn't make any sense. Gunter had a horrible relationship with his father.

"I doubt it," Artie replied, grabbing a file from their desk and opening it. "His father died 3 years before Gunter came to America."

"SO WHO THE HELL RETURNED TO EUROPE WITH GUNTER?" Eugene inquired.

"Now you understand the reason behind my dramatic 'Oh my God'," Artie replied, pressing his lips in a thin line.

He needed to call Walter.

TBC...


	21. An exquisite design

Artie unwrapped the foil packaging from his poptarts. "You know what sucks, Eugene?" He wheeled around his lab, angrily.

The coffee machine beeped and Eugene calmly poured Artie coffee. "THE FACT THAT WE DON'T HAVE A TAPED RECORDING OF THE PERSON THAT TRAVELLED WITH GUNTER?"

"Why the hell don't airports keep recordings that are older than 3 years? That doesn't make sense!" Artie cried in frustration before grabbing the mug Eugene handled him.

The robot titled his head, crossing his arms above his chest. "ACTUALLY IT DOES. IF THEY KEPT ALL THE RECORDINGS, THEY WOULD END UP WITH A COLOSSAL FOOTAGE DATABASE THAT WOULD EXPENSIVE TO MAINTAIN AND WELL, KIND OF POINTLESS."

"Well, it wouldn't be pointless for us!" Artie scoffed. "Because guess what? We have no idea who travelled with Gunter!" He bit into his poptart and took a sip of the coffee before making a face "And seriously, how can you be so calm about this?"

Eugene shrugged. "I JUST TRUST YOU. I KNOW YOU'LL FIND A WAY OF IDENTIFYING MR. MYTERIOUS TRAVELLER," The robot said, as if it was truly that simple.

Overwhelmed by such blind faith, Artie blushed. "'Genie, you just make me want to hug you sometimes, you know that?"

"I HAVE THAT EFFECT ON PEOPLE," Eugene said smugly, and Artie was pretty sure if that metallic bastard could, he would be smirking right now.

****

***************************************

Blaine took his usual spot at the back of his seventh period English class; a class he couldn't wait to end. The stress of the day was already getting him down; he was done with his finals, but they were brutal and now more than anything Blaine just wanted go home, away from the uncaring and underpaid teachers, the brainless classmates and stupid jocks that still called him a fag behind his back.

If he only hadn't promised Kurt he wouldn't skip classes…

He cringed at his own thoughts. He was actually sticking around in this oppressive and intellectually offensive atmosphere because he had promised someone? Oh God, what freakish force had possessed him and where was the real Blaine Anderson? He looked around, as if in doing so he could find an explanation for what was happening to him… and why he had butterflies in his stomach.

The world must have somehow changed, or at least it felt like that for Blaine, though, looking around, apparently only for him. Everyone kept doing what they always did, looking bored and tired while the teacher continued to talk endlessly. Quinn kept sucking on her lip piercing, probably thinking about the pack of cigarettes she had hid away in her locker, as always.

Blaine considered throwing a note at her, but just then his phone buzzed. It was text from Kurt.

**I think Tina's a homophobe - Kurt**

Blaine inhaled sharply.

He was aware that Tina was one of the few friends Kurt had and Blaine also knew too well how it felt when people you once thought as friends turned their backs on you over something you don't have any control over, as if you're some sort of freak that chooses to be ostracized.

**Did she say something to you?! I swear to God Kurt if she did or said anything...** He typed quickly, clenching his jaw. He could already feel his blood boiling up.

Blaine wouldn't let people's hate and ignorance turn Kurt into the same bitter, untrusting, self-destructive asshole he had become after years of putting up with Lima's closed minded jerks. He would do everything in his power to protect Kurt from that, to keep him just like he is, someone that actually believed he could walk around wearing a kilt in Lima, Ohio, without being humiliated by homophobes.

Kurt's answer took long enough to make Blaine consider grabbing his things and getting out of there. He didn't even care if the principal gave him a detention or called Walter, damn, Figgins could call the fucking Pope if he wanted, it wouldn't keep Blaine from being there for Kurt if the he needed him.

**She didn't say anything…But she just had this look on her face as if she pitied me or as if I was some sort of sick person -Kurt.**

A humorless, bitter laugh broke through Blaine's lips.

He made a small little sound. A scoff. Like he was blowing it off. But really, he felt like he was being eviscerated. Who did Tina think she is? What he and Kurt shared was not something to pity. It wasn't something soiled or dirty, quite the opposite actually. She should be envious of what they had, because a closed minded person, someone whose heart was contained by hate and prejudice would never experience such a pure and unique thing.

He looked up and Quinn's eyes were on him. She was frowning, not understanding why her best friend suddenly seemed so upset. She mouthed an "is everything alright?" making Blaine's stomach wrap itself in knots. In times like this he'd realize the fact that he was just so damn lucky that he had someone like Quinn in his life. Someone who didn't look at him differently when he came out and that remained his friend through all the pain and loss.

Blaine would never forget how, while everyone remained motionless watching Ted beat him up, Quinn stood up for him. How she threw herself between them, pushing Ted away and practically daring him to hit a pregnant woman. She helped Blaine stand up and dragged him to the girl's bathroom where she cleaned the blood and tears off his face, promising that everything would be alright.

And even when everything didn't turn out alright and, with the help of his teammates and his couch, Ted made up a story which spread through the school, saying that Blaine had been harassing him for weeks and that he had touched Ted inappropriately, causing Ted's violent outburst, Quinn stuck to his side. And when Blaine refused to talk about it or press charges in fear of his parents' reaction and began to be treated by the whole school like some sort of gay sexual predator, Quinn was there to snap at anyone who said mean things about her best friend.

She never left his side and once he began to skip P.E classes, as he was not willing to use the locker room where every boy thought he some pervert that wanted their dicks, she skipped with him. They spent hours on the grassy slope next to the bleachers that quickly, with time, became their place.

Blaine wished everyone who was out of the closet had the luck of having someone like Quinn in their lives. But unfortunately it didn't seem to be like that for Kurt seeing that his only friend apparently was a homophobe.

Blaine took a long breath through his nose and typed again.

**"There's nothing wrong with you Kurt and if this Tina girl thinks otherwise then she doesn't deserve having you as her friend - Blaine."**

Kurt could make new friends. The gang had liked him, and even Puck seemed to not hate him. And that was something, coming from Puck. That prick usually hated everybody, including himself.

**"I guess you're right - Kurt."**

**"As usual ;) –Blaine"** He responded, trying to brighten up the mood.

**"A little full of yourself, don't you think? - Kurt"**

The corners of Blaine's lips tugged up in a smirk and he quickly typed his reply before Mr. Andrews shot him another severe glare.

**"You know you like it ;) -Blaine"**

****

***************************************

"So guys, what are we gonna do next?" Penny asked; tapping her fingers on the table as the waitress placed a chicken burger in front of her. Artie and Walter looked at her book with exasperated expressions on their faces.

They were in a small diner, blocks away from the FDTC building. It was one of those old-fashioned places that had a bell on the door that rang every time someone walked in and smelled like burgers and homemade pie. It was Penny's favorite place and whenever she came here she stuck to her favorites, a chicken burger and a slice of cinnamon apple pie with ice-cream.

"Maybe you could hack Avalon's system again for more information on Gunter?" Walter suggested, looking pointedly at Artie.

Artie rolled his eyes "If only it was that easy…" he sighed dramatically, before taking a sip of his chocolate milkshake.

"What? You already did it once…" Walter said, leaning on the table.

"Yeah, and after that every single hacker in the country tried to prove that they were just as good as me by doing the same thing and forcing Avalon to develop a system almost as good as the pentagon's," Artie explained.

"So you're saying you can't do it?" Penny asked, raising an eyebrow as she held her burger with both hands.

"Maybe," Artie murmured without looking up from his apple pie. "But it could take me months…"

Penny narrowed her eyes, titling her head slightly. "What if you tried to hack the system using one of Avalon's computers?"

Artie made a face. "Well theoretically speaking… yes, it would be easier to hack the system using one of their computers, but I really doubt they're going to let me near one of their computers," He scoffed.

"Maybe you won't have to…" Penny murmured, thousands of thoughts running inside of her head.

"What do you mean?" Walter inquired, seeing the look on his partner's face.

"Would you be able to design a malware in order of controlling one of Avalon's computers?" Penny asked Artie, the corner of her pink lips tugged in a smirk.

"Maybe…" Artie answered tentatively not really following Penny's line of thought.

"So do it! And Walter and I will make sure one of Avalon's computers gets infected with the malware." Penny grinned, delighted by her own intelligence.

Artie leaned forward, intrigued. "And how are you guys going to do that?"

"Great question, how ARE we going to do that?" Walter crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at his partner.

"I'll tell you how!" Penny smiled, battling her eyelashes. "Fabulously dressed, because you and I are going to the Avalon's Annual Charity Ball," She said with finality, as if it totally settled the matter.

"You mean the children's cancer aid one?" Walter asked, clenching the table cloth.

"The very same." Penny replied grinning widely. "They'll be selling their newest robot models for ridiculous sums, and, kind hearted as they are, the money raised goes to National Children's Cancer Foundation. It's being hosted in one their central headquarters and representatives from FDTC are always invited, a way to show their interest in fighting illegal forms of technology by collab-ing with us."

Walter thought a moment, as if it was actually considering Penny's ideas. "But it's our boss who goes to this kind of thing…"

Penny shrugged dismissively. "Oh Walt, it'll be easy to convince boss to let us go in his place, he hates this kind of formality." She looked pointedly at Artie. "But you have to come up with the best malware you've ever designed. If Walter and I get caught trying to infect Avalon's system, we may end up on jail. Are you sure you can do that, Artie?"

Artie leaned back in his wheel chair, running his fingers through his brown hair. "Well, when you put like that…" he trailed off nervously.

"Artie," Penny replied, her voice laden with unsaid warnings.

"Alright! Alright!" Artie sighed looking flustered. "I can do it!"

Penny crossed her arms over her chest and put her best bad cop face on. "Are you sure?" They couldn't take risks. If an alarm rang and they were caught trying to invade Avalon's systems, they wouldn't only get fired, but go to jail.

Artie took a deep breath. "Yes, I am!" He said, almost screaming it, desperately to show confidence in his words.

"Great!" Penny squealed, clapping her hands together. She was practically bouncing on her toes.

Walter leaned against his chair looking, at Penny but still not completely convinced by the ginger's plan. "Are you sure boss is going to allow us to go in his place?"

Penny smiled brightly. "Oh Walter, he'll be willing! Just wait and see."

**

***********************************

**

 

"No! For the thousandth time, you two can't go to the Charity Ball," Johnson said, glaring at Penny and Walter with tired eyes.

Penny scooted herself forward. "But boss-"

"Why do you want to go to this ball?" Johnson asked with a tired sigh. "It's boring! It's full of a bunch of pretentious bastards who think that they're better than everyone else because they donate less than .000001 % of their money to charity once a year," He said, scrubbing his chin and rolling his eyes.

"That's exactly why we want to go!" Penny interjected.

Johnson frowned and sat back in his chair. "Because you actually like pretentious bastards who think they're better than everyone else?" he asked, raising his left eyebrow.

"No!" Penny smiled sweetly. "Because we want save you from hours of having to put up with those people!" She offered hopefully.

Johnson narrowed his small eyes. "And why would you two do that?"

Penny elbowed Walter, who sighed. "Because we really admire you, boss. You're an inspiring leader and a great man," he recited what Penny had made him memorize earlier, and she nodded at each word while giving their boss a thumbs up.

Johnson crossed his arms above his chest, unimpressed by their words. "What's the real reason you two want to go to this ball?"

"I told you he was going to say no…" Walter murmured. In response, Penny elbowed him again.

"Alright boss, I'll tell you the truth," She said, stepping forward and making Walter gasp.

"Penny, no-" Walter grabbed her arm.

"I need to say it, Walter…" She kept going, disengaging herself from the man's grip.

Walter reached out for her again. "But Penny-"

"I never went to any of my school dances," Penny said, catching everyone by surprise.

"What?" Walter and Johnson said in union, both frowning at the ginger woman.

"It's the truth. I-I never went to a dance. I had some hard times during high school and I never truly managed to overcome the bullying and harassment until I graduated. I just didn't want to go to prom and have pig blood thrown on me or whatever," Penny said, and then looked at her partner. "And I told Walter that, and he said that if I wanted to put on a pretty dress and drink some horrible punch, he would find a way to make it happen… so here we are."

Johnson looked at Penny, and then looked down. "I can't believe I'm saying this…" he sighed, and rubbed his hand on his forehead. "But okay, you two can represent the FDTC at Avalon's Charity ball," he said, causing Penny to squeal.

"Really?" Penny cried, clasping her hands together.

"Yeah, yeah… Now get out of here before I regret making this decision," Johnson grunted, motioning to the door.

"Boss, you're the best! The best!" Penny chuckled as Walter pulled her out of the office before she ruined everything by trying to hug Johnson.

"See? I told you he would let us go!" Penny cheered, bumping her fists on Walter's arm.

Walter bit his lower lip and then looked down at her. "That was a pretty good story you told there." He took a slow breath. "It sounded almost as if it was actually true."

Penny put a lock of her ginger hair behind her ear. "It's because it is the truth. No one wants to take the freaky slut to prom," She said quietly, before letting out a kind of bitter laugh that was so unlike her that it broke Walter's heart a little. "I guess I was only good enough for abandoned parking lots and the back of empty movie theaters."

Walter felt his stomach knotting, he felt sick. Penny wasn't a freak or something to be ashamed of. And it didn't matter if she had slept with hundreds of guys. That didn't reduce her worth or make her less special. That didn't change the fact that her smile was the brightest smile Walter had ever seen, and that her laugh was so contagious that not even his grumpy façade could last around her.

"I would," Walter said quietly.

"What?" Penny looked up at her partner. "What did you say?"

Walter blushed. "I said that I-I would've taken you to prom, and I wouldn't care about what other people said because I know you would be the best prom date ever."

Penny look down, blushing, and then up again. Her brown eyes were wide and a bright smile curled onto her lips. "Thank you Walter," she murmured, hooking their arms together. "And well, I guess you'll have your chance then!" she chuckled, making Walter smile. "Now let's go to my mom's store."

"To your mom's store?" Walter raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, my family owns a dress store!" She said, pulling Walter towards the elevator. "Time to get ourselves some fabulous clothes!"

**

***********************************

**

"SO HOW WAS LUNCH WITH WALTER AND PENNY? DID YOU GUYS COME UP WITH SOMETHING?" Eugene said as soon as he noticed Artie entering the lab.

Artie groaned. "Yes we have a plan and it involves me designing a malware, in a miniscule amount of time, capable of infecting Avalon industry's system without being noticed."

Eugene couldn't really smile, so he grabbed a paper and drew a smiley face and held it up for Artie. "YOU CAN DO IT," he said so convincingly and with such optimism that he almost convinced Artie himself, almost.

"I hope so Genie, I really hope so…" He sighed tiredly. "Oh! Along with designing this awesome malware, I also have to find a way of disguising the device with the malware as jewelry so Penny can wear it during Avalon's Annual Charity Ball. How about that? Artie Abrams, Hacker and Jewelry Maker," He said sarcastically, grunting and taking off his glasses to massage his temples.

"I CAN DO THAT FOR YOU," Eugene offered. "BUT I NEED TO KNOW THE COLOR AND THE MODEL OF PENNY'S DRESS SO I CAN DESIGN AN APROPRIATE PIECE."

Artie opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you know how to make jewelry."

"MY FORMER OWNER WAS A JEWELRY DESIGENER. I DREW AND MADE MOST OF THE PIECES FOR HIM," Eugene said, sitting in front of his laptop and opening a new tab on his browser. He quickly typed what seemed to be a familiar url and then turned the laptop towards Artie, showing him a page filled with images of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry Artie ever seen.

"You designed all these?" Artie gasped, grabbing the laptop and placing it in his lap. They were truly amazing. There were brushed-gold and platinum engraved jewelry accented with gemstones like diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and rubies.

"YEAH, I DID," Eugene answered quietly.

Artie knitted his eyebrows together as he went through pages and pages filled with breathtaking jewelry. They were just so elaborate, so delicate. If Artie didn't know Eugene's gentle and kind nature, he certainly would not have been able to wrap his head around the fact that a robot as heavy and stout as Eugene was capable of making such precious and detailed little pieces of art. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?" He murmured, looking up at his friend.

"BECAUSE HE ALSO MADE ME DO OTHERS THINGS, THINGS I'D RATHER NOT TALK ABOUT," Eugene said, wrapping his metallic arms around himself as if he could protect himself from the memories of the things he was forced to do for his previous owner.

Artie bit his lip. "Are you sure you want to make this jewelry then? We can find another way…"

"I DON'T MIND… I ALWAYS LIKED MAKING JEWLERY, EVEN IF THEY WERE NEVER RECOGNIZED AS MY WORK." The robot shrugged before making some excuse about getting coffee and walking away from the lab, leaving Artie behind with a sick, empty feeling in the pit of his stomach.

For the last time, Artie looked at the laptop's screen and at the pictures of the wonderful pieces Eugene had created. Every single one of them was being offered for exorbitant prices and all carried the signature of someone who didn't have half of Eugene's talent but whose condition as human had given him the right to abuse and taking advantage of Eugene in god knows how many ways for years.

Everything suddenly seemed so unfair.

Why was it that someone as kind and as considerate as Eugene had been forced to put up with that kind of shit for years? And how come others just like him were being forced to live in even worse conditions right now, being obligated to do all kinds of things while Artie, just for having a heart beat and a DNA code, could just sit there and complain about not having enough time to design a malware he was complete capable of doing.

Artie slammed the laptop shut, barely managing to breathe through the lumps in his throat.

In times like these he really just hated the fucked up world he lived in.

**

***********************************

**

"Hey there," Kurt greeted Blaine with a smile as soon as the boy entered Walter's kitchen.

"Hey," the tired expression on Blaine's face brightened up almost immediately as he laid his eyes on Kurt, who was for some reason wearing an apron. Not that Blaine minded. In fact, he wouldn't be bothered at all if Kurt greeted him dressed only in that apron and nothing else.

"I like the apron," Blaine teased before sitting down. "I mean, I never thought I would be into this wife-y thing, but seriously, keep the apron."

Kurt rolled his eyes, placing one of his hands on his hips. "Seriously Blaine? You're really going down that hetero-normative path?" He held out a spoon accusatorily. "And by the way, why do I have to be the wife?"

"Oh honey, don't worry. If you want, I can be the wife." Blaine leaned forward, a grin forming in the corners of his lips. "I am pretty versatile…" he winked, feeling amused by the blush that quickly spread across Kurt's face as the android's mouth assumed an "o" shape.

"B-Blaine!" Kurt stuttered, turning around to hide his embarrassment. "I can't believe you just said that!" he murmured, grabbing a bowl and pouring sugar in it.

Blaine had to muffle his laugh with his hands. Even the back of Kurt's neck was overtaken by a distinct shade of red.

Still blushing and with his jaw clenched, Kurt pulled the refrigerator door open. "You're so not getting cookies…" He trailed, off grabbing the milk and glancing at Blaine with sharp eyes.

"Are you going to deny me cookies?" Blaine twisted his perfect lips into an exaggerated pout, batting his ridiculously long eyes lashes dramatically. "Really?"

Kurt met the pout with his best attempt at an evil face. "Oh yeah, no cookies for you sir." He had to turn around in order to not chuckle at Blaine's attempt at making puppy eyes.

Blaine stood up with a smirk, and approached Kurt, placing both hands on the android's sides. "And there's nothing I can do to make you change your mind?" he whispered in a low voice, causing shivers to run down Kurt's spine.

Kurt bit his lip, and to Blaine's surprise turned around to meet his eyes. "Maybe I can think of something…" the android whispered, or practically purred.

Blaine held his breath; his hazel eyes widened just enough and fixed on Kurt's lips. "You can?" he whispered, watching the way the android's lips parted the tiniest bit.

"A thing or two…" Kurt said, positioning his arms on Blaine's shoulders and causing the older boy to lean in a little. "Like what?" Blaine breathed, intoxicated by Kurt.

"How about if you clean the bathroom?!" Kurt stepped away, pushing Blaine back. "It could really use a good cleaning," he said once more, grabbing the bowl and trying his best to keep a straight face as Blaine glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"Tease," Blaine groaned as he supported himself against the table, arms crossed over his chest.

Kurt looked over his shoulder and winked teasingly. "You know you love it."

Blaine was about to retort with some snarky comment when the apartment's door burst open.

"Boooooooooooys!" Penny called, carrying a ridiculous amount of shopping bags in her arms while Walter followed her, hiding behind a stack of boxes that he desperately tried to keep balanced.

"Oh my God." Blaine sighed, supporting himself on the wall. "You didn't buy Kurt more clothes, did you?" He really hoped she hadn't. Kurt already had enough clothes. They barely fit their shared commode and there was no way Blaine was giving up another one of his drawers for Kurt. Well unless he got to makeout with him in exchange. He could always negotiate in exchange of a makeout sessions.

"What?" Kurt stepped in, eyes shining with excitement. "Who bought me clothes?"

Penny bit her lip. "Sorry dear, but these aren't for you. These are for Walter and me," She explained, lunching her shoulders.

Blaine frowned. "And since when do you two go shopping together?"

"Is not like that," Walter cut in, falling onto the couch tiredly. "We're going to a Charity Ball to represent our company and these are the clothes we borrowed from Penny's mom's store," He explained, grabbing one of the bags. "Well this one's mine, the rest is all Penny's. She insisted on bringing every single dress and matching shoes she saw in front of her."

Penny stuck her tongue out at her partner. "We're going to a Ball, Walter! What do you expect me to do, just pick any dress without the second opinion of a specialist?"

Walter sighed resignedly. "I feel like I'm going to regret this, but what're you talking about, Penelope?"

"Oh, I think she's talking about me… I'm the specialist…" Kurt raised his hand, taking off his apron and putting it aside.

Blaine glared at him. "And what makes you the specialist?"

"Honey, have you seen how fabulously he dresses?" Penny retorted as Kurt smiled smugly.

"Thank you, finally someone recognizes my talents." He blew her a kiss before sitting down comfortably on the couch. "Now go and put these on so I can give you my opinion."

"Oh my god, not again," Walter groaned, burying his face in his palms. "Do I need to be here? I already saw you in all of these dresses and in some of them twice!"

"Of course you do!" Kurt cut in, and Penny nodded in agreement as she glared at her partner with her arms crossed. "You're my companion, I need your opinion," she stated.

If only Walter could say no to Penny... He sighed and ran his fingers through his curly hair. He gave up. "Alright, alright, but I already told you that I like the blue one better."

"Oh, blue is good color!" Kurt pointed out. "It matches your skin."

"Well I'm not anyone's companion or a specialist, so if you need me I'll be in my room." Blaine excused himself and pointed to the hallway, but before he could walk away someone gripped of his leather jacket.

"Oh young man, you're staying," Walter grumbled.

"Wait- Why?" Blaine cried. "Unless Penny's considering on getting some piercings or wants to borrow a leather jacket, there's no reason for me to stay."

Walter thought for a moment, but then he shook his head. "I don't have a reason to make you stay, but I'm your father, and if I'm being forced to endure hours of this, I'm not doing it alone, so sit down and think of this as some sort of father-son bonding experience."

"Watching Penny try on millions of different gowns?" Blaine snorted. "What kind of father-son bonding experience is that? What happened to going fishing, hunting, bowling for God's sake! I like bowling! Why can't we go bowling?"

"But Blaine, I could really use a second opinion!" Penny pouted.

"Another one?" Blaine motioned to Kurt and Walter.

Penny shrugged. "A third opinion then…But I would be really happy if you stuck with us and helped me choose my dress!"

Blaine kept his arms crossed and had an unconvinced expression on.

"C'mon!" Penny cried. "Don't make use my puppy eyes on you!" She warned.

"I would listen to her if I was you," Kurt advised "No one can resist Penny's puppy dog eyes and after she has used them against you there's no way you'll be able to say no to her again, ever."

Blaine snorted. "It can't be that convincing."

But it turned out it was, and minutes later Blaine found himself sitting on a couch, squeezed between a tired Walter and a overexcited Kurt, as the three of them watched Penny trying on what seemed to be an infinitude of gowns.

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this," Blaine mumbled. Who would've known that Penny's puppy dog eyes were actually that good? Not even a real puppy could pull off such puppy dog eyes, how that was even possible?

"Well me either," Walter murmured, yawning. "But hey! Now we have something in common. Best bonding time ever," he joked, causing Blaine to smile. He actually smilied at something his father said instead of rolling his eyes as usual.

"I'd still rather be bowling."

**

***********************************

**

Weeks went by and Artie worked on the malware, and at each passing day he grew more and more stressed.

He was overloaded. Artie had never designed a malware so cautiously before, so he quickly became obsessed. The pressure was just too big. He had to make it perfect, inconspicuous to Avalon's security system, so Penny could infect one of Avalon's computers without being caught and he had to make it in less than two weeks.

Sleepless nights, tons of coffee and little to no food for days practically turned Artie into a zombie. He could barely keep his eyes open on the last day as they finished the project and Eugene put the final touches on the malware device's disguise. But he tried. Artie really did, because there were only a few things that had amazed him as much as watching Eugene working.

Eugene had designed the most elegant jewelry Artie had ever seen; a pear-shaped fake Sapphire cluster ring. Its lines and contours were so enthralling, so clean, but at same time so carefully elaborate with such fineness that even someone like Artie could tell that the ring had a kind of singular beauty that real jewelry out there lacked.

The hacker just didn't know a word sophisticated enough to describe the piece, and it looked so real. Using relatively cheap materials, Eugene was able to make the perfect disguise for the small device containing the malware which was now hidden inside of the fake Sapphire. It was truly amazing.

"You should sell this after we're done," Artie murmured, holding the ring against the light. "It's perfect."

"AND WHAT WOULD THE PRODUCT'S DESCRIPTION BE? A SOPHISTICATED RING WITH AN EXQUISITE DESGIN AND MALICIOUS SOFTWARE CAPABLE OF STEALING INFORMATION FROM HUGE COMPANIES?" Eugene teased, taking the ring out of Artie's hands and carefully placing it in a small box covered with red velvet.

"Well describing that way, I think we'd sell it in minutes…" Artie laughed, before his doorbell's ring echoed throughout his apartment. "It must be Walter, he said he would drop by to get Penny's ring. She's getting ready for the Ball with Kurt's help," Artie explained as he grabbed the little box and wheeled towards the front door.

**

***********************************

**

"I have the ring!" Walter announced breathlessly, holding up the small red box as he stumbled inside of his apartment.

"Oh my God, Walter! Do you know what time it is?" Penny cried, arms crossed above her chest, red lips pressed in thin line. She looked absolutely stunning in the long navy blue asymmetrical dress, with small detailed stitching across the shoulder and snaking down the side with the same stitching along the base.

"I know, I know, I got stuck in traffic!" Walter apologized, handing the ring box to Kurt who also held an impatient expression just as Penny did.

"Maybe if you had headed to Artie's sooner as we asked you to, you wouldn't have ended up stuck in the traffic," the android sneered.

"I know and I'm sorry!" Walter pleaded, under Penny and Kurt's judgmental eyes.

Surprisingly it was Blaine who came to his rescue, giving Walter his tuxedo. "Here! Go get ready before these two kill you," he said as Penny and Kurt kept glaring at the older man.

"Thank you," Walter mouthed, disappearing in the hallway towards his room.

"I am so nervous," Penny murmured, fighting the urge to bite her freshly polished nails. "I'll get sweaty and gross and I'm going to ruin my make-up."

"Calm down, you're gorgeous. Your make up is water-proof and you guys are going to be just great," Kurt assured her, applying a little bit of hairspray to hold Penny's hairstyle in place, a side-parted, loose updo with side-swept bangs.

"You don't understand Kurt, this is going to be a disaster!" Penny babbled nervously, the ginger woman was shaking. "I mean we're late, and I'm not used to these kinds of shoes… Oh my god, what if I fall on my face?!"

"Penny, you're not going to fall on your face, and you're looking beautiful so stop freaking out," Blaine assured her, not having to look up from his phone to know that Penny was stunning. She already looked great the day she chose the gown and she wasn't even wearing make-up or had her hair styled.

"Can someone help me with this bowtie?" Walter called from his room. "It's been 15 years since I last wore one of these!"

Kurt shot Blaine a look, but the boy remained immobile on the couch, eyes glued to his cell phone and his feet on the coffee table.

Blaine looked up, feeling Kurt's eyes on him. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Well, go help your dad! I'm finishing Penny's hairstyle!" the android demanded, a hair clip between his teeth.

"Who said I know how to help him?" Blaine retorted, still not moving from the couch.

Penny rolled her eyes. "Honey, we saw the pictures…"

Blaine leaned forward, hazel eyes wide. "Which pictures?"

Kurt made a face. "The ones of you from you junior year, when you dressed as if you were in some 50's sitcom."

"What?" Blaine gasped and stood up, blushing. "How? Where-where did you find those pictures? I thought I had gotten rid of them, all of them."

"Well, your father kept some of them," Penny cut in, placing her hands on her hips. "And you can ask him where while you help him with his damn bowtie!" she cried, pointing towards Walter's room.

Grunting something neither Penny, nor Kurt managed to understand, Blaine ran towards his father's bedroom.

Penny made an indignant noise. "I don't get why he's so ashamed of those pictures, he looked cute."

"It's the whole bad-boy attitude," Kurt dismissed. "Apparently you can't be fashionable if you're an underdog," he teased, making Penny chuckle.

"There," He breathed, letting go of the woman's ginger locks. "Now you are looking flawless," he said, taking a step back to admire his work.

"You really think so?" Penny bit her lip.

"You're breathtaking Penny, breathtaking." He smiled, astonished "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go do something about Walter's curls. There's no way I'll let him brush them all to the side," he said, grabbing his comb and hairspray and running to help Walter.

The doorbell rang.

Penny looked up. "Who could it be at this hour?" she wondered, but didn't move. She didn't know if she was supposed to.

It rang again.

"Can you get that for me, Penny?" Walter called from his bedroom.

"Alright, I got it Walt." Penny crossed the living room, the sound of her high heels echoing inside of the apartment.

She opened the door and her eyes met a pair of icy blue ones.

A woman with short, dark hair, red lips and high cheek bones was standing at the door, carrying what seemed to be a box of Chinese food and staring at Penny, apparently not pleased by what she was seeing. She had her icy blue eyes slightly narrowed, analyzing the young Penny from head to toe.

"C-can I help you?" Penny murmured, feeling suddenly self-consciously under the woman's stare.

"I'm Barbara," the woman said as if that was a good enough explanation, as if that was supposed to mean something to Penny.

"So, Barbra-"

"Barbara," The woman corrected.

"Alright Barbara, what can I do for you?"

"I'm Walter's ex-wife and Blaine's mother, and I'm here to see them," Barbara said, crossing her arms above her chest, giving a clear signal of annoyance.

"Oh boy…" Penny murmured.

This was going to be a long night.


	22. Watching stars collide

The sound of Barbara's stilettos echoed in Walter's apartment, making Penny's stomach knot. She didn't know why, but she was sure she had somehow just earned 100% of unadulterated disdain from Barbara. And the two of them had only met seconds ago, so that was a new record. Penny had never caused anyone to dislike her in such short time, usually people waited until she started to talk.

"Where's Walter?" Barbara asked, looking around and taking notice of every single detail of Walter's much cleaner living room. The place seemed really different from the last time she had been there, which left her wondering about who had been the cause of such change?

"He's getting ready… w-we're going to the Charity Ball," Penny explained before Walter showed up and came to her rescue.

"Hey Barbara," Walter greeted nervously, one hand rubbing the back of his head. He looked handsome, the tuxedo fitted him well and unlike the old trench coat he used on a daily basis, it actually highlighted his broad shoulders.

Barbara didn't seem impressed though. "I guess things are going well for you in the FDCT, aren't they?" It was phrased like a question, but her words were really more of a statement. "Because from what I can recall, there's no such things as going to Charity Balls in the Homicide department, only endless overtime shifts and bad coffee…"

Walter cleaned his throat. "Things change, Barbara," he said defensively.

"I can see that," His ex-wife retorted, throwing a pointed look at Penny, who couldn't help but blush. The ginger woman felt like she was being accused of something, she just couldn't figure out what.

"And who would this lovely young girl be?" Barbara said, waving her hand towards Penny, saying the word girl with such emphasis that Penny suddenly felt 12 years old again, which partly explained why Penny mentally stuck her tongue out at Barbara, Miss My-Perfect-Cheekbones-Make-Me- Look-Deadly.

"I'm Penelope, and it's nice to meet you, Barbara." Penny tried to keep her voice steady and reached out a hand towards the older woman.

Barbara stared at Penny's hand for a few seconds before taking the federal agent's hand in hers.

"I didn't know FDTC hire their agents at such young age," Barbara pointed out, letting go of Penny.

For a second, Penny found herself speechless. She had no idea what she had ever done to that woman to make her apparently dislike her so much. They had met 5 minutes ago, and Penny hadn't been nothing but cordial towards her. Making insinuations about her capacity as a Federal Agent blasted straight past the realm of cordial and into the territory of rude.

"I'm actually twenty-four." Penny gave Barbara an overly sweet smile. "But I understand why you'd think I'm younger. I've always looked a lot younger than I actually am. But I guess that's a good thing right? When I reach 40 I'll barely look 30, and well, not everyone is that lucky." In perfect honesty, Penny didn't like it when she had to act like a bitch, but she wouldn't let anyone underestimate her.

Barbara wrinkled her nose but before she could answer, leather boots echoed through the living room.

"Mom?" Blaine raised an eyebrow. "What're you doing here?" He definitely wasn't expecting a visit from Barbara. Actually, he was planning to take Kurt out to eat something, maybe to Breadstixs. Santana had sworn that they were legally banned from stop bringing the customers breadsticks. And Blaine believed her. After all, Santana had filled a wheelbarrow breadsticks last time she went there.

"Hey Blaine." Barbara smiled. "I thought I would stop by and bring some Chinese food so that we could you know, have a family dinner… But I guess you father has other plans/"

"If you had called me, Barbara, I would have told you that I wouldn't be home tonight," Walter murmured uncomfortably. He didn't like where the conversation was going and how Barbara was subtly implying that Walter was ditching them out. "But I'm sure Blaine and Kurt will love to have dinner with you."

Barbara quirked a perfect eyebrow. "Kurt? He's still here?"

"Yes Barbara, he still lives with us, actually he and Blaine share the guest room" Walter explained.

Barbara still seemed confused. "What about his parents? He's practically becoming a permanent fixture here. Doesn't he have a home, a family?"

"No I don't." The sound of Kurt's voice caused everyone in the living room to turn around and stare at him. Blaine's stomach dropped. Kurt seemed so small, clenching a hair brush between his pale fingers. "My parents are dead, so I am staying here for a while," he explained. There was a burning in the back of his eyes, one that he did not want to dwell on.

After a prolonged moment of uncomfortable silence, Barbara spoke again. "I am sorry," she said and for a fraction of second, Penny swore there was something that resembled feelings crossing the woman's features.

"I'm Kurt's guardian now," Walter assured her. "For now on and for as long as he wants, he will be a pretty permanent fixture in my life."

Kurt smiled at Walter, fighting the urge to cross the living room and hug the older man. But he couldn't. He would ruin the tuxedo. Speaking of tuxedos…"Oh my God!" the android gasped. "What are you guys still doing here!? The Charity Ball is about to start!"

"Kurt's right, we're late already!" Penny tugged at Walter's sleeve.

"O-okay." Walter nodded, fumbling with his keys, he opened the front door. "Have a nice dinner, guys. I guess I will talk to you guys later." He waved, offering them a small smile before leaving the apartment.

"Well that wasn't awkward at all," Blaine commented, watching how his mother stood motionless, staring at the door. Already counting with more of Barbara's great insights such as questioning Kurt's stay, Blaine couldn't shake off the fact that this night was going to only get more and more uncomfortable as the hours went by.

 

**

******************

**

There was a blond, middle aged woman talking to Azrael.

She was holding a glass of sparkling champagne between her long fingers and her heart-shaped lips were curved in wicked a smile.

The woman's garments weren't exactly appropriate for her age, but neither was openly flirting with a boy twenty three years younger than her while still wearing a wedding ring, so in the end, Mrs. Robson's choice of gown wasn't nearly as shocking as it should be.

She wore a strapless black gown with large jeweled embellishments on the side of the waistline and an asymmetrical pleated bodice with a high side slit that exposed her right leg. Black suited her. It matched her white polished smile and the pale skin of her full breasts, not that Azrael was looking. Actually, he was one of the few men at that ball that could say he hadn't stared the woman's voluminous breasts.

His focus was at something else entirely.

Azrael had found himself fascinated by Mrs. Robson's elegant neck. It was beautiful, lean and graceful. And he couldn't help but wonder how smooth the skin would feel under his fingertips, how salty it would taste beneath his tongue, but especially, and more importantly, how easy it would be to bruise, mark, and then slit it open so he could watch all the blood flood out of the woman's body in a matter of 5 minutes or so. Maybe 4, it really depended on where and how he cut it.

Azrael shook his head slightly.

He couldn't.

He had promised Adrian, no more killing middle aged women that resembled his dead mother. "It's too Psycho Azra, and besides, Hitchcock is definitely overrated," Adrian would have said if he was here.

The woman touched his arm. "… So please give Adrian my best wishes."

Azrael looked up. "I will, Mrs. Robson." he nodded.

Mrs. Robson winked and brushing the back of her hand on his butt, she made her way towards a small group of other obnoxious middle aged socialites. Unaffected, Azrael looked down at his watch. He couldn't quite remember how much time of this he had to endure before he could leave. He considered calling Adrian, but then a glimpse of red and blue caught his attention.

Across the room, accompanied by an older man, a stunning young ginger woman laughed. The contrast between her smooth pale skin, her red hair and the long asymmetrical blue dress she wore was just magnificent. It reminded Azrael of the myth of the goddess Aphrodite's birth, rising from the sapphire sea of Paphos.

The corners of Azrael's lips lifted slightly.

He had never made any promises about young red heads with delightful smiles.

 

**

******************

**

 

"This is amazing," Penny whispered against Walter's shoulder. She clenched the fabric of her partner's black tuxedo between her fingers, brown eyes wide and lips slightly parted. There were just so many colors bursting before her eyes.

This year's Avalon Charity Ball had been themed as a tribute to Richard Grunt, a painter famous for his colorful abstract art. His work consisted mostly in representations of joy and bliss and such feelings were perfectly personified by the smiling acrobats twirling around in silky sheets between holographic projections of vibrant paintings, glittering like fireworks and then being engulfed by explosions of colors. There were also at least twenty variations of colorful and faceless robots, each one serving a fancy cocktail that matched the color of their surface.

Walter tugged Penny closer, trying his best to not step on her feet as they danced. He had never felt so out of element. Part of him still couldn't believe that they were actually doing this. The whirlwind of unknown faces and painted lips made his head spin. In order to embolden himself, he had taken down two glasses of champagne consecutively before Penny could drag him to the dance floor, saying that it would look suspicious if both of them just stood there staring at everyone.

And as paradoxical as it may sound, the ginger woman couldn't find another way of describing the atmosphere as just a perfectly ordered chaos. Crowds of people kept pouring into the building, rich lights flashed from the top levels and the air was heavy with expensive perfume, alcohol and the faintest smell of Cuban cigars. With a quick look, everyone seemed to be having the time of their lives, but if you looked more carefully, if you really paid attention, you would be able to tell how the laughs sounded a bit too loud and the smiles were a little too bright. It was all an act. Everyone there was playing according to a strict code affirmed through forced smiles, luxurious jewelry and flawless pieces of haute couture. It reminded Penny of the old spy movies she used to watch with her dad where everyone wore the finest dresses and tuxedos but hid the nastiest secrets.

"Oh my God." Penny was hit with a sudden illumination. "I'm James Bond," she murmured, wide eyed.

Walter raised an eyebrow, confused. "What?"

"Just look at me: all dressed up, carrying secret devices and assigned to a dangerous mission. I'm totally James Bond," Penny chuckled and Walter twirled her around. He laughed as well, the knot of uneasiness inside of him unfolding a bit. "Alright, if you're Bond who does that make me? M?"

"Well Artie is definitely Q…." She pointed out, biting her lower lip for second. "But nah, you're not M, you're too much of sweetheart to be M…"

"Too much of a sweetheart? Me?" Walter shot her an odd look. "You know what? I'm not even going to ask how you came to that conclusion, but if you're Bond, Artie is Q and I'm not M, who the hell does that make me?"

"Let me see..." Penny titled her head slightly. "Well, you're also dressed up, but I'm doing most of the action…. So you're here basically to look pretty and distract people while I do my thing." She pursed her lips together, squeezing her eyes and making a thoughtful expression for a moment before a malicious flick crossed her features. "I guess that makes you my bond girl!" she squealed.

"I am not a bond girl!" Walter cried, mortified.

She clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the giggles. "You are so my bond girl" she teased.

"I'm going get another drink," Walter let go of Penny hand and waist. "Because I don't want to be sober when you began to call me Pussy Galore."

"Oh c'mon, don't be mad at me! You don't need to be Pussy Galore!" Penny laughed as her partner walked away with his brows furrowed together and blush high on his cheeks

"You can be Halley Berry!" she offered, ignoring the odd looks some snobby socialites shot her.

Screw these people, they wouldn't make Penny feel self-conscious.

She was James Bond after all.

 

**

******************

**

The plan was simple. Well, as simple as any plan aiming to infect a huge company with a malware could be.

As usual, the Charity Ball was held in the top floor of the principal administrative headquarters, and as any other one of Avalon's buildings, at each of the four floors there was a small cleaning center. All the services of Avalon's buildings were automated. It had been years since the last time one of their employees had seen a member of the office cleaning staff that was remotely human. Cleaning robots had been responsible for the sanitation of the buildings since before the legalization laws. They were cheaper, didn't complain and could be programmed do pretty much anything, from window cleaning to watering plants.

Between vacuums cleaners and sanitizing Androids, each Cleaning Center had four or six different models. With the exception of the window cleaners, most of the robots spent the day being recharged and began the tasks they were programmed to do in the evening when the offices were empty. While recharging, the robots received their chores of the day. Due to Avalon's green policy, they didn't have the same chores every day, sanitizing only places that were really necessary in an attempt to not waste cleaning products.

The cleaning centers and their functions were connected to an Interactive Kinetic Intelligence, Prometheus, a complex form of artificial intelligence that centralized and integrated all the administrative features of Avalon's system into a single database that was programmed to manage millions of information at same time.

So the plan was to invade a Cleaning Center and connect the device disguised as Penny's ring into one of the entries where the robots were being recharged. She already had the series of six passwords that would allow her to enter the cleaning center. According to Artie, it hadn't been that hard to figure out the codes. Apparently, the guy responsible for the eventual maintenance of the center wasn't the sharpest tool around and actually had a word document saved on his personal computer with all the passwords just in case he forgot.

"Seriously," Artie had said, "Avalon should be more careful with the subcontractors they hire; the cheapest option usually is never the best one."

Luckily for their plan, it wasn't unusual for the maintenance team to visit the Cleaning Center in the middle of the night. Sure, they had an official schedule of checkups, but sometimes they would just stop by the centers unscheduled to make sure everything was alright and that they wouldn't have too much work the next time they stopped by. Cleaning robots tended to show physicals signals of their problems way before their systems caught up and alerted that there was something wrong.

Penny took a deep breath as she walked through the empty hallways, looking for the stairs. Three floors down at the third door she would find a cleaning center. She just had to calm herself down. She could do this. Even if she had insisted Walter to stay at the party and not come with her, it didn't change the fact that she trusted Artie and the malware he had designed. Penny just wouldn't take the risk of causing Walter to end up in jail. He had a son to support and if there was someone who could take care of Kurt if something happened, that person was Walter.

She removed her shoes and holding the hem of her dress, she quickly made her way through the emergency stairs. There were limited sources of light but that wouldn't make her lose her cool. She just focused on the music she could still hear from the party, ignoring the darkness that engulfed her. There was a Broadway star singing in the Ball and she had a breathtaking voice. Everyone's attention, including the security guard's had been stolen by the Tony nominee's show. And as any other administrative building, there were cameras only in the parking lot and the entrance. Penny was sure no one had seen her leaving the party and those who did probably thought she was looking for a bathroom.

There was nothing to worry about, everything was going as planned.

"5739bb127b639-9, hsjd92848098£-3, 329371y32098-6 , 8473934729i-8,2746284-45,93749372-34 " She repeated to herself in order to keep the passwords in mind.

She reached the 35th floor and pushing the door open and looked around.

As she expected, it seemed empty.

She let go of her shoes and quickly crossed the hallway towards the cleaning center's metal door. Penny looked around a last time before she pushed the code that would open the door.

"5…7….3…9…-…b…b…1..-2…7…-b…-6…3…9…-9" she typed, taking a deep breath in order to calm herself and stop shaking, and then continued to type, "h...s…j…d…9…2…8…4…8..0…9…8..£..-3, 3…2…9...3…7...1…y…3…2…0….9…8…-6, 8…4…7…3…9…3…4…7…2…9…i…-8…, 2…7…4…6…2…8…4…-45, 9…3…7…4…9…3…7…2..-3…4." She bit her lip and closed her eyes until she heard the door of the small room slide open.

"Thank God," she murmured, opening her eyes.

She stepped inside and the door closed behind her. She had to muffle a scream with her hands as a set of blue lights unexpectedly switched on, making the robots inside of the small room who just a minute ago were nothing but misshaped outlines suddenly assuming much more distinct and scary forms.

The most humanoid ones had blue cables connected to entries on side of their napes, which caused their necks to be twisted in an abnormal position. The sight sent shivers to Penny's spine. It reminded her of puppets whose strings had been cut.

She had always hated puppets.

After taking the fake Sapphire off of the frame of her ring, Penny placed the small device in between her lips as she held the shoulder of one of the robots. She had to make it quickly. If it took too long to connect the device to the entry, the security system could be alerted.

Supporting one of her hands on the middle of the robot, Penny unplugged him from the cable what caused the machine to unexpectedly fall on her, throwing her off balance.

Penny found herself pressed between the metal door and the robot, taking in deep breaths of air that seemed to be devoid of oxygen. The robot was a lot heavier than it seemed. She didn't know if she was strong enough to push it away but damn, she had come so far she couldn't end up getting crushed by a 100 pound cleaning robot…

"Fuck!" she gasped, her arms beginning to throb and her vision going spotty. She felt her breath starting to turn errant and her mind raced with thoughts of how in a matter of a few seconds the security system would detect her presence.

Penny took a deep breath and closing her eyes, she bent her knees a little before grip the robot's metallic shoulders and use her weight to shove the android forwards, to opposite the wall. The impact of the robot against the wall caused a loud noise but the robot's knee's junctures didn't give up. The Cleaning model ended on his feet, back turned to Penny, head supported against another robot's shoulder as his arms hanged flat on his sides.

A breathless laugh escaped Penny's lips before she clenched the blue cable between her trembling fingers connecting to the false Safire to it. "C'mon…c'mon…C'mon…" she murmured, waiting the advice to turn red.

If it didn't turned red in a matter of 10 or so seconds it was signal that the malware had failed to infect the Central's system and that Penny should ran for her life, because the security would probably be already aware of her attempt to infect their system.

Penny bit her lower lip, mentally counting the seconds.

1…

2…

3…

4…

5…

6…

*Click*

The barely perceptible sound echoed as the device turned red. "Thank god," Penny breathed, waiting a few second before disconnecting the device from the blue cable.

She took several deep breaths, supporting her hands on her knees before looking up at the cleaning robot propped up against the opposite wall.

"Fuck." She sighed, putting a loose lock of her ginger hair behind her ear.

She still had to put that robot back in his place.

"Okay big boy." She took a deep breath before wiping sweat of her hands and onto her dress. "Time to connect you again."

 

**

******************

**

A loud ring echoed through Walter's apartment, breaking the silent atmosphere. It was a wicked song.

"Oh." Kurt looked up from his plate.

It was his phone ringing. "Excuse me, I have to get that." He stood up and left the kitchen, not aware of how Blaine's expression morphed into a puzzled frown.

"Hey Walter," Kurt murmured closing his bedroom's door behind him. "How are things?"

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm a nervous wreck." Walter sighed, running a hand through his curls. "Penny just left and I don't have any idea what I'm supposed to do now."

Kurt bit his lip. "Where are you?"

"I'm on a balcony. I needed to get away from that crowd. I was looking so damn nervous that people were starting to get suspicious and began asking me if I was okay," Walter explained before taking a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

"Okay, but you have to get back. You need to be there when Penny returns."

"I know, I know," Walter stuttered. "I just needed some fresh air." He paused, massaging his temples. "I'm just so worried, what if Penny gets caught? She's so stubborn that she'll probably take all the blame to herself…"

Kurt looked up at the ceiling, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. That did sound like something Penny would do and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to her.

He took a deep breath. "Hey, don't be like that. Everything is going to be alright, just calm down and then go inside, Penny must be done by now. She's probably looking for you," Kurt said trying his best to sound confident when in reality he was worried as Walter was, maybe even more. After all, Penny ended up in this mess trying to help him.

"You're right kid, I-" Walter turned around and almost had a heart attack. A man stood in the balcony's entrance, holding a bottle of whiskey and staring at him. "I-I have to go now, bye Kurt," He rushed before shoving his phone back into his pocket. He didn't move or try to leave. It would look too suspicious if he just ran from there. Besides, he doubted that that guy had heard anything.

The man approached him with heavy steps and supported himself on the balcony's metal structure, beside Walter. He was tall, at least 6'2", had sharp features and his brown hair was meticulously styled. Walter could tell he was someone desperately trying to hold himself together. And he had probably been doing that for a while. There was this atmosphere of unusual weariness around him as if it was possible he was too worn out by his twenty something years of life.

After a few moments of silence and a few sips of the bottle he carried with him, the man finally spoke. "Did you just say Kurt?" the stranger asked quietly, and if Walter hadn't been panicking, he would have probably noticed the dried tears streaked across the guy's cheeks.

"M-my son," Walter lied. "His name is Kurt."

"Kurt," The man repeated quietly. He had his brown eyes vacant for a few moments, as if his thoughts had been taken by a distant memory. "I guess it's kind of a common name…"

"I guess." Walter nodded. This kid wasn't alright. He was almost twice as Walter's size, but somehow he looked so small, so vulnerable. Walter couldn't help himself and reached for the guy's shoulder. "Son, maybe you should put that bottle away."

The guy smiled, or tried to, because it didn't reach up to his eyes at all. "Don't worry old man, I'm fine," he lied bluntly, as if it was already something as natural as breathing for him.

Their eyes met, and it took too much out of Walter to hold the gaze. The guy's eyes were filled with too much of a familiar pain. There was guilt there, raw and aching, and Walter was too familiar with that feeling to be able keep their gaze locked. It brought too many of his own demons to the surface.

"Well well… If isn't Sebastian Smythe of all people drinking himself to oblivion," a feminine voice echoed in the empty balcony causing both Walter and the strange guy to turn around. "And from what I've heard, this is not the first time you've been spotted drunk at a high profile event."

Standing in the balcony's entry was a short brunette with her arms crossed over her chest. She had her brown dip-dyed hair parted with soft waves draping on her right shoulder. Her lips were painted with red and she wore a floor length silver gown with sequins, short sleeves, a bare back and a short train.

"What? Don't tell me that the heartless Sebastian is actually capable of feeling guilty?" She fixed her brown eyes on the bottle in the guy's hands as a sharp smile cut its way through her small features. "And what would Harrison think if he discovered that one of his junior associates has a thing for liquor?"

Sebastian took a step forward, his face contorted in a wounded expression. "Fuck off, Berry," He sneered, taking a sip of his drink. "Not everyone can be like you, smiling for pictures and singing as if what happened 10 years ago didn't matter."

A glimpse of hurt flashed in the woman's brown eyes, but it was soon gone. "I remember, believe me Sebastian, there isn't a single day of my life I don't remember what happened, I was there!" She gritted through a clenched jaw. "And just because I'm not drinking myself to oblivion, it doesn't mean I don't care. I'm just strong enough to move on."

A humorless laugh broke through Sebastian lips. "Careful Berry if you may end up spilling your dirty little secrets." He threw a look at Walter, as if trying to get the girl to acknowledge Walter's presence. "And we don't want some gossip magazine to find out about the dark past of the newest Broadway hit, Tony nominee, do we?"

"Like you would want Harrison to find out about what his future associate did," she retorted and then looked pointedly at Walter, throwing him a sharp look as if trying to intimidate him to not tell anyone about the scene he just had witnessed. "I'm sure you are going take all the legal precautions so our little chat doesn't leave this balcony."

She turned around and walked away without sparing a look back. This Berry girl had a way of imposing herself that made Walter think of liquid steel, lithe, indestructible. She was fueled by ambition and determination and anyone could see that.

Walter was about to ask what the scene was all about when Sebastian broke the silence. "I'm the future of Harrison & Associates, one of the biggest law firms in America," Sebastian stated.

"So…?" Walter frowned.

"So, if you tell a word of what you heard in this balcony to the press, well to anyone really, I will ruin your life, your children's lives and then of all the following generations that carry the burden of your insignificant last name," He said, shooting Walter one last menacing glance before walking away from there, leaving Walter behind without understanding what the hell had just happened there.

Because seriously, he was just trying to get some fresh air, how did he end up getting threatened by a Tony nominee and a prestigious young lawyer?

 

**

******************

**

 

Blaine couldn't help but feel a sting of jealously inside of him when Kurt walked away from the kitchen. Who could be calling Kurt at such time?

"I had brunch with Quinn's mom this week," Barbara said, her gaze fixed on her plate.

And that brought Blaine back from his jealous conjectures. "Huh? That's nice," he said, not really understanding why his mother was bringing that up as if it wasn't something she had been doing at least twice a month since before he was born.

"She told me some interesting things." Barbara looked up with an unreadable expression on her face.

Blaine fought the urge to roll his eyes. This wasn't going to end well. He could feel it. "I have a feeling I'm going to regret this…" He sighed looking up into his mother's icy blue eyes. "What did she tell you, Barbara?" he asked, letting go of his food and sinking further into his chair.

"She told me a couple of weeks ago you spent the night in her house, locked in Quinn's room…" Barbara trailed off, tentatively, almost as if she was insinuating something.

"Yeah… I did spend the night over at Quinn's." Blaine furrowed his eyebrows together, not getting his mother's point. "We have sleepovers all the time, you know that. We've been doing it since we were five…"

"Yeah, but I guess I only now noticed how important she is to you." Barbara smiled "And well, deep down she is such a good girl," she said, her blue eyes sparkling in the dim light of the kitchen. "She may be a little lost now, but she comes from a nice family and I'm sure she will eventually find her way back. You have to admit, even with the piercings and the leather, Quinn is still Lima's prettiest girl."

And then Blaine got it. He understood where his mother was trying to go with that whole conversation, praising Quinn's beauty and acting as if both of them already hadn't had countless sleepovers over the past years. It made Blaine sick. The way Barbara was trying to twist his relationship with his best friend into something more just because she couldn't accept that he was gay. It made Blaine's stomach knot as this dark, suffocating feeling spread throughout his chest.

He thought Walter had told her the truth, but apparently he hadn't.

"I guess she is…" He croaked quietly, tearing his gaze from his mother's and looking down at his plate. With his shoulders slumped and head hanging low, Blaine mentally begged to a God he didn't believe in since his brother's death, to disappear. He would give anything to not be on the table having that conversation. Blaine wasn't ready to deal with this, even though he felt like the truth was going to burst out of him any minute he still wasn't ready to ruin his relationship with his mother.

Confusing Blaine's discomfort for embarrassment, Barbara pressed on. "She is, isn't she? Quinn has such an exceptional beauty." She gushed, and there was just so much hope in her voice that Blaine could tell Barbara was already picturing her grandchildren with curly blond hair and Quinn's perfect little nose.

He took a deep breath. "Yes, mom," He said trying to keep his voice steady "I do think she is beautiful, but in a totally platonic way," he clarified, hoping that it would end the conversation.

There was a hint of desperation in his voice this time. If he had to keep talking about it he would probably crack because he wouldn't be able to keep lying for his mother's sake, but Barbara didn't seem to notice and kept pressing on. "But she's such a-"

"Mom!" Blaine interrupted her, and fuck this, he just couldn't take anymore. "I-I need to tell you something. Something you probably already know but I think you need hear it from me-"

Barbara went pale. "Blaine, I don't think-"

"Let me finish this," he cut in again. He had to do this. He clenched his fists over the table, digging his nails into his palms. "I-I'm gay," he said, still not looking into his mother's eyes, too afraid of rejection and of losing the little bit of warmth that was left there for him after his brother's death.

A loud gasp coming from his mother made Blaine close his eyes. He didn't need to look up at her to know she had her eyes wide and a trembling hand above her mouth. And that was it, the end, the death of their already agonizing relationship. Blaine was sure that there was no turning back now. Barbara wouldn't be able to keep fooling herself that someday Blaine would bring a nice girl home and introduce her as his girlfriend.

Blaine looked up, hazel eyes burning with unshed tears. He didn't have much more to lose anyway. "I am not asking you to accept it. And I definitely don't expect you to buy a rainbow flag and go to a pride parade with me." He took a deep breath, gathering the courage to keep going.

"I just need you to acknowledge the fact I'm gay and stop asking me over and over again about girls…" The words made his throat go ever tighter. "I'm not going to bring a girl home and say that she's the one for me. That's not going to happen, not now, or never. This is not a phase and no matter how many girls you try to shove in my lap, I am not going to feel attracted to them and I am definitely not going to fall in love with any them regardless of how lovely or pretty they are."

Blaine was tired, so freaking tired of "Did you see how lovely Cindy is looking today?" and "how do you expect to find a good girl dressed like that?" He just wanted to be himself; his damaged and messed up self. He didn't need this kind of shit coming from his mother, there were already more than enough people telling him that his sexuality was a thing he should be ashamed of.

"And I need you to stop hurting me mom, because that's what you do every time you look at me with hopeful eyes asking me about girls. You make me feel like a freak, like I should feel ashamed of myself…" A choked sound, resembling a bitter laugh broke through his lips and he couldn't stop the accusatory tone in his voice. "And I know I'm only saying this out loud now, but for god sakes you caught making out with a boy! And don't even try to tell me that he looked like girl, because he didn't! Yes, Liam had long hair, but even a blind person could tell that he's a guy. You just choose not to see."

Barbara remained quiet, black tears streaming down her face. Once again, Blaine had ruined her impeccable make up, hurt his mother deep enough to affect her, to make her feel something. It wasn't the first time and certainly wouldn't be the last. He just wished that seeing his mother like this would get easier with time. But it didn't. And just like the first time he saw that look on her face, after throw a picture frame of a smiling Cooper against the living room's wall and shattering it into millions of pieces, Blaine felt his heart break and wished that he was never born.

Barbara pressed her red lips into a thin line. "I don't know what you want me to say," she murmured brokenly.

"You really can't think of anything to say to me? Anything?" He just needed three of words from her, just an "I love you", three little words that could change forever their relationship.

Blaine's heart skipped a beat when Barbara opened her mouth only to be broken seconds after as his mother shook her head and buried her face in her palms remaining silent.

"I guess this conversation ends here then." Blaine stood up, a razor-sharp smile cutting its way through his hurt expression. "Now if you excuse me, your faggot son is going to find some dick, thanks for the dinner Barbara."

"B-Blaine, wait!" Barbara reached up for his arm, but he stepped away from her and without looking back, disappeared into the hallway.

Barbara wouldn't come after him, part of him wanted her to, but he knew she wouldn't. A few minutes of excruciating silence passed and Blaine remained supported against the hallway's wall, holding his breath until the sound of his mother's high heels echoed inside of the apartment, followed by the front door being opened and then slammed shut.

Blaine shut his eyes, biting his lower lip and not allowing the sobs that burnt his throat to break through him. He felt the bitter, sick feeling in his stomach intensify with each sob he bit back. It was humiliating, the way his eyes burnt, how he had tears well out and spread over his cheeks. He felt like a child again, it was if he was new to this sick game, even though it had been years, 10 years since the first time a person he loved walked away from him.

It wasn't until he felt the taste of his own blood inside of his mouth that Blaine opened his eyes again, only to be faced by a pair of worried blue eyes. Kurt stood in front of him, anxiously keeping a certain distance between them as if he didn't know what to do next, if he should approach Blaine or just leave him alone.

The gritty air inside of Blaine turned to dirty ice and crusted blood, welling a bad taste into his mouth. He didn't want Kurt's pity. "I guess you heard the whole thing, huh?" he asked cynically. Blaine felt empty, his head throbbed with anger and pain and at that moment he just needed something, someone to hurt as much as he did.

Hesitantly, Kurt stepped forward. "Blaine, I'm sorry I didn't-"

"I don't need your pity." Blaine gritted his teeth, pushing Kurt out of his way and walking past him, towards the living room. He just needed his car keys and then he was getting out of there. He didn't care what Walter would say, if he got angry. Blaine couldn't care less for Walter, this was his fault too. He should have told Barbara and spared Blaine of seeing that look on his mother's face. But of course Walter wouldn't call the mother of his son to talk about him, it's not like the man knew a thing about parenthood…

Kurt took a deep breath and went after Blaine. He got a good grip of Blaine's leather jacket and forced the older boy to turn around and look at his face. "Good then because you are not getting pity from me" Kurt said, jaw clenched as he pulled Blaine by his wrists towards him.

Blaine resisted at first, trying to disentangle himself from Kurt's grip. He was too hurt, too furious. It would be too damn easy to just give in to old habits and hurt Kurt as well. Because that was Blaine did. He hurt people over and over again, punishing the innocent ones for the pain inflected by those who broke him.

When android pulled at Blaine's sleeve for a second time, Blaine finally allowed himself to walk a few hesitant steps forward. Blaine didn't know how to explain why he did that, maybe he was weak, too tired, or maybe there was something about Kurt that made Blaine feel safe, that made him able to control of the darkness he carried with him.

He still flinched when Kurt reached up and cupped his face, as if he wasn't used to that, to such a simple gesture of affection, causing Kurt's eyes to burn. So he brought Blaine even closer and rested his forehead against the older boy's. "Blaine…" he muttered, trying to keep his voice low and calm even though his chest was tightening. "Blaine, look at me."

Blaine raised his gaze uncertainly, his body contracting with pain and despair.

"There is nothing wrong with you," Kurt murmured, is hvoice hoarse. "Did you understand me? There is nothing wrong with you."

"Kurt." Blaine breathed heavily, before finally allowing himself to be embraced by Kurt's warmth as the android wrapped his arms tightly around him. Blaine immediately clutched at Kurt, burying his face in his neck and breathing him in once, twice and in a matter of thirty seconds or so, in which Blaine counted each one of his own painful heartbeats, he finally gave up and let the sobs he had being suppressing erupt from his lips.

**

******************

**

Penny deserved an award. If Walter hadn't paid for her lunch for the next week, shit was going down. She had to run through three flights of stairs twice and then move around a 100 pound robot. She was now determined to never again put up with Walter's complaints when she asked him to grab them Coffee, oh no, not after this. Walter better take her to Breadsticks, let he eat all the breadsticks and then pay the bill happily.

And Artie? Oh Penny had a few demands for him too. She sure did. He was going to pay for the dessert, well scratch that, he was going to buy a whole cake for her and for his sake, it better be chocolate cake. And yes, Penny knew this had been all her idea, but those two shouldn't have agreed with her. Who in their right minds would agree with anything she said? Most of the time even she didn't!

It worked and that made her really happy, but also she could barely feel her arms. The muscular pain had reached a whole new level where the word agony would be a euphemism to describe it. If numbness didn't have taken over minutes ago, Penny was sure she would have passed out.

And it was Walter's and Artie's fault because they didn't come up with a better plan before Penny was forced to lift a robot. So yeah, dinner, breadsticks and then a chocolate cake.

"Lost?" A voice echoed behind Penny, causing her to freeze. She was in the hallway that gave access to the assembly room. It wasn't exactly suspicious to be there, but still…

She turned around and there was a guy, well, a boy. He was probably the same age as Blaine and he was looking at her.

He had long pale limbs and his crimson red hair was combed with a calculated carelessness. "Do you need assistance?" He offered, his voice like murmur, each velvety utterance like a mouthful of smoke that lingered in the air a little longer than necessary. He held himself in a way that was supposed to make people feel comfortable around him, expression calm and composed. Yet for all his apparent serenity, there was something off about that boy– maybe the quirk of his soft lips or the shady spark that slid out of a pair of suddenly not so emotionless brown eyes- it sent this cold feeling through Penny's body.

Penny couldn't explain why, but looking into that boy's eyes, she felt a sudden urge to run.

She probably should have.

"I-I was just looking for the bathroom," Penny lied nervously, looking around. They were alone and the hallway suddenly felt much more isolate and darker than it did just a few second ago. They were just a few feet away from the assembly room but the ginger girl couldn't stop herself from wondering if people at the ball would be able to hear her over the loud music if she screamed.

The music was just so loud.

"I can show you the way," The boy insisted, stepping forwards.

Penny swallowed and stepped back. "There's no need," she dismissed watching the way the boy's leather gloves stretched above his knuckles as he clenched his fists.

Who the hell wore leather gloves in that weather?

"I insist," The boy said and before Penny could argue, gloved fingers were pulling her by the wrist and into the darkness.

TBC...


	23. Monsters don't sleep under your bed

“Azrael” a deep voice echoed in the empty hallway, filling Penny’s heart with hope. 

At least she wasn’t alone with the ginger boy.

Azrael immediately let go of her turning around, there was a tall man with piercing blue eyes stood behind them. The man’s body seemed to be made of sharp edges. He had an impeccable bone structure, high cheeks and broad shoulders.

“I thought you wouldn’t come” Azrael said, and there was something in his voice, it almost as if he was being defensive.

“I changed my mind” Deadly cheek bones retorted, fixating his icy blue eyes on Penny. “And who this lovely lady would be?” the corners of his lips were tugged in a half smirk.

“Penelope…” She said with a weak voice, “Penelope White”

“I just was showing her where the bathroom is” Azrael smiled stepping back. He held his hand up, motioning to a door behind them. It had a little silver sign hanging on craved with the word women in a curvy calligraphy.

“Here you go Penelope” he said politely, too politely. An unsettling gloom still lurked in the boy’s factures and even if it wasn’t the rabid-animal savagery of before, it still sent shivers through Penny’s spine.   
It was like look in the eyes of a starved beast that had its tamer standing between its grasp and a bloody slice of meat.

“Well now you already helped the lovely lady in distress how about you accompany me” Deadly cheek bones said smiling, and for a moment Penny wondered if the tamer himself, wasn’t just a different breed of beast

Breaking his perfect posture for a moment, the man bowed the slightest bit. “It was nice to meet you Miss White”

“Y-you never told me your name” Penny murmured before she could help herself. She should be running, not asking questions.

The man’s blue eyes gleamed with proud and he couldn’t help but sound overly amused as he introduced himself. “Adrian Ablach” he said, causing Penny to gape.

Closely followed by Azrael, Adrian walked away, not sparing Penny a second glance, as he left the ginger woman behind with a shocked expression on her face. She just couldn’t believe. 

She just met Adrian Ablach, the only heir of the Avalon’s industries.

**********************

“I swear, sometimes you act like a child Azrael” Adrian huffed, adjusting his red velvet tie. “I get you are 19 and all, but still, one would expect that someone with a life experience like yours would be bit more mature than that. God, it’s not like you never saw a pretty face…”

Azrael looked up, his delicate red eyelashes reflecting the pulsating lights coming from the stage. The next big thing on the soul music, Unique Adams, was reaching unbelievably high notes and stealing the attention from everyone around them. “You never said anything about-”

Adrian snorted, rolling his eyes “I also never said anything about jumping off a cliff, so now what? Are you planning a visit to the Grand Canyon?”

Azrael remained immobile glaring at Adrian quietly, as if calculating what to say next.

“I do not doubt of your talents, or that you would find a way of wiping Miss White’s existence off the face of the earth without leave a single trace that could compromise us” Adrian said, and he wasn’t lying, if there was one thing Adrian trusted was on Azrael’s talents. “But I need you to be more careful. I can’t afford losing you Azrael, you said yourself that you had come across evidences that made you believe that Chang is in New York.”

If Adrian wasn’t so used to Azrael’s lifeless brown eyes he would probably get mad at the mechanic nature of the boy’s next words. “You are right. I am sorry”

“No, you are not” Adrian dismissed setting his eyes in one of the colorful waiter robots “And now I need a drink”  
Azrael placed ones of his gloved hands on Adrian’s forearm 

“You shouldn’t drink” he murmured, clenching at the fabric of the taller man’s tuxedo. “It’s not good for your condition”

Adrian looked down, moved “Look at you, actually worried about me...” At such distance he could practically smell the faint, but sharp, tang of neatness that always lingered around the ginger boy, now mixed with something else, a sort of fainting mellow sweetness that only emanated from Azrael’s pores when he was about to have someone’s throat slit. It was a delicate blend of sweat and adrenaline and it caused a strange kind of fascination on Adrian. It amazed him, how someone could actually smell like death. And well, would be such a shame let such peculiar scent be soured by frustrated ambitions, wouldn’t it?

“You know what? If you behave and wait patiently while I do the all the required social interactions, when we get out of here we can go look for a red headed so you can play” Adrian said smiling at the way Azrael’s usually emotionless eyes sparked again.

***************

“Oh my god what took you so long?! I was this close of going after you” Walter cried griping at Penny’s shoulders.

White as a sheet of paper, Penny clenched at the bruises on her wrists. “There was this boy h-he-”

Holding out Penny’s bruised wrist so he could see it better, Walter’s expression was twisted in mix of fury and concern. “What happened? What boy? What he did to you Penelope?”

Penny shook her head. “N-nothing he just-”

“This doesn’t seem nothing to me” Walter grunted, hazel eyes fixated at Penny’s wrist.

She sighed “I am fine Walt, I swear”. Penny looked down biting her lip. “He just had his look in his face, it wasn’t normal Walter... And his hands-”

Walter narrowed his eyes. “What about his hands?”

“I don’t know… H-he wore these leather gloves… I think he had prosthesis” Penny explained.

“That doesn’t make sense” Walter frowned. Someone that could afford to come to a ball like this should be able to pay for the most luxurious prosthesis in the market and even the cheaper ones were so human like that most people couldn’t tell the difference. “You shouldn’t be able to tell if he was wearing prosthesis”

“I know!” Penny cried, brown eyes wide “But I swear Walt, he had metallic hands, you have to believe me”

“I believe in you Penny” Walter murmured taking off his blazer and placing on his partner’s pale shoulders “If you say so, I believe you. But I think it’s time to get out of here, it was a long night and you look like you need some rest”

“Can you give me a ride home?” Penny asked quietly. She looked down biting her lower lip for a moment, before look up again, brown eyes huge and pleading. “Please? I know I said I would get a cab, but-”

“And you really thought I would let you just get a cab at first place?” Walter smiled circulating Penny’s shoulders with one of his arms “C’mon you have been through a lot for one night”

**********************

Tina clenched her cell phone between her fingers.

Her black fingernails were bitten; the anxiety medicine was no longer effective as it was before. Practically holding her breathe she counted the seconds until her call was picked up. “I think we have a problem” she rushed, not giving to the person in the other side of the line the time to properly process what she was saying.

_“What you mean?”_

Running her fingers through her thick hair Tina took a deep breath “I had a fight with Project Metempsychosis” she confessed, before close her eyes, already anticipating the outburst of anger that would certainly come from the other side of the line.

_“Over what!? I can’t believe this, why the hell you would fight with him!?”_

Tina sighed. “I freaked out okay? I caught Kurt- I mean, Project Metempsychosis, making out with this boy and-”

There was a gasp in the other side of the line. _“Wait a minute… Making out with a boy? You mean that Project Metempsychosis is actually getting some?”_ The mockery underlines which those words were spoken made Tina’s stomach knot.

“I guess…”She murmured. Tina didn’t know if Kurt was getting some, she didn’t want to.

_“Well that is a little bit unexpected…But still not reason enough for you get your panties in a twist. I mean you know very well how much time was invested so Project Metempsychosis could be sexually functional.”_

Tina felt her stomach burn. How could someone be so coldly clinical? “I didn’t freak out because he is sexually functional. I freak out because Kurt is in a relationship with someone.”

The line went silent for a while. _“Hmm… You are right that could be a hindrance to our plan”_ the words were said in such a guiltless way that Tina couldn’t help but snap.

“You got to be kidding me” She gritted between her teeth. Because seriously, a hindrance to their plan? Is that how they are going to call this? As if Kurt being in a relationship wasn’t nothing but a small hitch that could be easily overcome?

_“What? You are the one that said we had a problem…”_

Tina sighed heavily. “I know just-”

_“You just too emotionally compromised and think just because Project Metempsychosis found someone to fuck we should reconsider our plan”_

Tina bit her lower lip. “I don’t know, maybe…”

_“Tina, sweetheart, we are not changing our plans, so please, do what most of people do when they get emotionally invested in something they shouldn’t, drink yourself to oblivion and when you get sober again, remind yourself why you are doing this and focus on your mission”_

“There is really no other way we can do this?” Tina felt tears burning her eyes “We really don’t have any other choice? I don’t know m-maybe we could just runaway, leave the country”

_“Runaway? Leave the country?”_ A loud snort echoed in the other side of the line making Tina immediately feel stupid for her suggestion _“Because that turned really well for Gunter, didn’t it?”_

Tina was lost for words for a second. She could hardly breathe around the pain that jolt through her chest at the mention of Gunter’s name. It reverberated through her body like a shockwave, releasing memories of afternoons spent between test-tubes, laughing at the way Gunter’s accent seemed to turn heavier when he excitedly talked about his love for the Mutant Teen Ninja Turtles. It used to be his favorite cartoon. She still remembered when he told her he always watched the MTNT’s cartoon when his father feel asleep and he could turn the TV on without being afraid of having a bottle of whisky thrown on his head.

_“And besides I heard Azrael is back”_ The mention of Azrael’s name caused a completely different kind of feeling to reverberate through Tina. It was a mix of rage, revulsion and fear, but mostly fear.

“Its truth what they say about him?” Tina asked in whisper, unsettled by the memory of those soulless brown eyes. “That he had his hands cut off so he could put robotic prosthesis in their place?” 

_“Treacherous robotic prosthesis, he doesn’t even need to carry a gun anymore…You saw yourself the pictures of what happened with Gunter, does any of that look like something that could be made by human hands?”_

Tina gulped. “S-so what we are going to do now?”

_“Who is Project Metempsychosis boy toy?”_

“Blaine Anderson” Tina answered almost mechanically. She had to get her head back to the game, get rid of the emotional attachment she had developed for Project Metempsychosis. Those feelings were a liability that she couldn’t afford, she need to suppress them in order to survive.

_“The son of the federal agent!? Does he know about what is going on between project Metempsychosis and his son?”_

“I doubt it” Tina supported her cell phone between her chin and shoulder as she opened one of her anti-depressants bottles.

_“I need you to make sure of that then, because one thing is help a humanlike robot, another quite different is accept that the same robot is taking advantage of your human son under your roof.”_

It didn’t take much to figure out which would be their next step. “So you want me to expose their relationship to Walter?” Tina asked.

_“No, you are going stay out of this. We can’t afford Project Metempsychosis being suspicious of you. His believe on the genuineness of your friendship will be crucial so when the time come, we can intercept him. For now, I just need you to get as much of information as you can on the nature of the relationship between Project Metempsychosis and the federal agent’s son. Are they just fucking? Dating? There are feelings involved? Find out, and I will find a way of using whatever they have to deteriorate the bond our little scientific miracle developed with those who protect him”_

“Okay, I will contact you soon I have the information” Tina said before flip her phone shut and toss it across her nightstand watching it skid to a halt after it bounced off the wall. She grabbed the glass of water she kept there and then swallowed her pills.

She tucked Gunter’s picture back to her pocket. He wouldn’t be proud of her if he knew what she was about to do and with whom she had associated herself with. But Gunter had always been an idealist. He truly believed the good always won in the end. But Tina knew better, the good were always the first ones to go, mauled by their naive beliefs and unwavering faith on the kindness of other’s people heart. Fools killed by their dreams. There was no kindness in this world, not in a world where monsters like Azrael could walk freely after take countless innocent lives.

Tina wouldn’t end like Gunter. She wished she could be someone that would make him proud, but if there was something Tina was, it was a survivor, she has had been for a long time before this mess and survivors always do what they have to.

**********************

Blaine seemed a little less of a mess when Kurt sat him down on the bed. He was still shaking, and there were dry tracks of tears on his cheeks but the sobs that had insisted on break through him violently and painfully, seemed to have ceased. And while Kurt knew Blaine needed to cry more, that lock such darkness inside of him again couldn’t be good for him, he just couldn’t bring himself to say that out loud. Because really, how you tell someone that they probably need let go and allow themselves have a full, nasty breakdown because they were just keeping too much for themselves?

Kurt just couldn’t find the right words. They probably didn’t even exist. Blaine obviously felt humiliated for crying in front of him but the emotional stress wore him out in such a way, that even though he had his face flushed and couldn’t quite meet Kurt’s eyes, Blaine still didn’t offered resistance as the android took off his boots and laid him down. Ignoring his skin care routine Kurt squeezed himself between Blaine and the wall putting a blanket over them before wrap his arms around the older boy’s waste. 

Kurt wished the circumstances were different, that the first time they laid down together like that wasn’t consequence of such horrible moment for Blaine. But still, the worry that weighted his heart wasn’t nearly strong as the warm feeling that spread through his chest when he realized how big it was for someone like Blaine, so used to act strong and ruthless, let Kurt see this other side of him, the side he have been desperately trying to keep from everyone, including himself.

Like pieces of a puzzle that had finally come to place, forty minutes later they were still pressed together from shoulder to hip, legs tangled. It was overwhelming for Kurt, feel Blaine so close, his senses were taken by the smell of the Blaine’s skin and the heat of his body. But regardless how good it felt have Blaine in his arms, he still needed to keep his rational side working and Walter could come back anytime.

“Your dad is going to arrive any minute” He murmured burying his face on Blaine’s hair, breathing him in.

“I know” Blaine whispered.

Kurt placed a chase kiss on the back of his neck before unravel his arms of the older boy’s waist. “I should go to the futon then” he said sitting up.

Looking at Kurt’s eyes with an unusual intensity Blaine sat up as well, reaching up to cup Kurt’s face. “You don’t have to” he murmured.

Kurt frowned. “Do you want to sleep in the futon then?”  
Blaine remained silent, eyes locked to Kurt’s, his fingers tracing down the android’s neck, caressing at his collar bone.

“Y-you know Walter always check up on us” Kurt said feeling the blood rush out of his face and somewhere near his stomach. Vibrant hazel eyes stared at him, into him, eyes moving over Kurt’s face in such a way that made the android vaguely uncomfortable, prickly all over, itching for Blaine to close the rest of the distance between them.

Fingers were curled around Kurt’s neck and a warm hand placed above the android’s thigh. It seemed to burn his skin through the thick fabric of his jeans. “I don’t care” Blaine said against Kurt’s lips. His voice was deep, low, not much more than a whisper, but the anger in it was all too audible, there was want and the desire there as well, but so, so much anger.

Kurt pushed Blaine off him. “I won’t let you do this” he said running his fingers through his chestnut hair.

“W-what are you talking about it?!” Blaine was again was reaching up, to touch, to take it- 

“I won’t let you use me to hurt your dad” Kurt stood, watching as Blaine’s eyes go wide. It was far too obvious what Blaine was planning and Kurt wouldn’t let himself be used like that.

Blaine shook his head “Kurt I wasn’t-”

“I know you Blaine.” Kurt interrupted him. “And when people make you bad about yourself, your first instinct is to wear whatever people used against you as armor. When they called you freak, you made a point of showing them what being freak is about, that is why you so proudly wear that little leather jacket of yours and break people’s windshields with baseball bats. You grew tired of being hurt and began to use everything people hate on you to hurt them. And I get that, I do, but I am not making part of this. I am not letting you use what we have in an attempt of hurting your parents. If you want tell Walter about us, fine, we will do it, but in a proper way, so when Walter walk in that living room we will be sat there holding hands. I am not going to do this in any other way just because you want to shock your dad, because you want him to run and call your mother about how he caught you in a bed with another boy a few hours after you screamed at her how you are going after some dick.”

A dry laugh broke through Blaine’s lips and he looked down. “Fuck” he murmured.

“D-Don’t laugh! I am being serious here!” Kurt hissed cheeks red and fists clenched on his sides.

Blaine stood. “I know, I know” He rubbed a hand to his forehead “You just know me so well.” He looked up, into   
Kurt in the eyes, and something shifted in Blaine’s eyes, they softened and suddenly Kurt could see beyond the self-destructiveness. “Just don’t ever change ok?” Blaine said, voice hoarse as he clenched Kurt’s shirt between his fingers.

And well, that was something Kurt couldn’t promise. 

“Blaine I-”

Blaine grinned brightly. “I am serious. You are the most amazing person I ever meet”

Kurt inhaled sharply. “I can’t promise I won’t ever change… M-maybe there is things about me that-”

“I like everything about you,” Blaine reached out for Kurt’s hands and interviewed their fingers together   
“Especially how you don’t put up with my shit” He teased leaning in.

Kurt felt tears gathering at the corners of his eyes and forced himself not to let them fall – he could hold them back, he had to. “But what if can’t help it? What if I end doing something that changes the way you see me?”

Blaine squeezed Kurt's fingers between his, smile spread on his face. “You wouldn’t do that” he said so faithfully that Kurt couldn’t help but feel sick. 

“How can you be so sure?” he murmured eyes filled with tears. There was a twist to his mouth that spoke of anger. He was furious with himself, with his lies, his own condition as a fucking robot. 

And if there was one thing Kurt was not ready was to the unsettling sincerity which Blaine’s next words were spoken.

“Because you won’t break my heart” The older boy said closing the distance between them with a chase kiss that Kurt couldn’t even bring himself to respond properly.

Because, really, it was only a matter of time wasn’t it?

**********************

It was late when Walter arrived home and he was about to check up on the boys when he felt his phone buzzing on his pocket. It was Barbara. He raised an eyebrow. He was excepting Penny to call him, not his ex-wife.  
Undoing his bowtie he answered the call. “Hey Barbara, I was about to -”

“Did you know Blaine is gay?” She interrupted him, voice weak but demanding.

Walter walked pass the boy's room and went straight to his bedroom. There he sat on his bed and ran a hand through his curls “I-I… Yeah he told me a few days after he moved in, actually we had a fight and he kind threw it on my face”

“And it didn’t even cross your mind to tell me about our son’s sexuality?”

Walter sighed. “I thought he would tell you when he was ready to. What I assumed it happen tonight…”

“Wow Walter… No wonder you were 198th district’s finest detective” The poison on Barbara’s words evoked a cruel, sharp edge of guilty on Walter, the same that cut its way through his chest every time he saw in her eyes the complete absence of warmth.

He didn’t know what he was supposed to say, but he had to say something. “Barbara-”

“You know what pathetic Walter?” Barbara cut in. She was drunk, so obviously drunk, and Walter knew her, he knew her too damn well, and he had to stop her before she said something she would regret.

“You are drunk Barbara” He said trying to remind her that there was no way this was end well, she would probably only hurt herself more.

“I hate you Walter” She gritted and she wasn’t lying, her words were too heavy, too hurtful to be lies. “And I have hated you since the day you walked away from me and our son, but I still put my best dress tonight and bought some of your favorite Chinese food. And you know why I did that Walter? No because deep down I still love you, believe me, I don’t. But earlier, when I called Principal Figgins he told me that Blaine’s behavior had improved and that he hadn’t skip classes in the past weeks. That filled me with so much hope Walter. Hope that you had found a way of fixing things. So I thought what if he can fix everything? What if, somehow, we can go back to what we were, a real family?” She snorted and Walter could hear her swallowing down a sip of cheap alcohol. “Doesn’t that make a pathetic Walter? The fact I was willing to put my best dress trying to impress the man I hate just because I miss who I was and what I had before our family become this toxic mess?”

“It’s not pathetic Barbara.” Walter said with some sort of resigned inflection. He didn’t expect any less than hate for Barbara, he never fooled himself someday she would forgive him, he knew she wouldn’t. “You have all the right to hate me.”

A sob broke its way so loudly through Barbara’s lips that Walter couldn’t help but feel his own eyes watering as well. He still remembered the last time he heard her sobbing like that. It was ten years ago, but he would never forget the expression she had on her face when he got on the hospital, as if her muscles were trying to twist her flesh in all directions at once.

“Why didn’t you pick up Coop Walter?” Barbara once more pleaded, just like she did in that waiting room years ago and Walter still didn’t have an answer.

His throat clenched up, too much trying to get out at once, too much paying cutting its way through his heart “I-I have been asking that m-myself for the past 10 years”

“You know what?” Barbara let out a shuddering breathe “I have to go, this is was a mistake, calling you like this-”

“Barbara-”

She sighed. “What Walter?”

Walter closed his eyes. “Just don’t turn your back to our son because of his sexuality” he said, and only then realized what bad shape his voice was in—it was only a harsh croak. He cleared his throat and tried again. “T-There is no enough reason to walk away from our son, believe I am talking for experience here, I was selfish and blinded for my own pain and I lost some so much. Sometimes I can barely recognize Blaine. He is not the same dapper boy that used to call me papa, damn, he doesn’t even call me dad anymore. So don’t make the same mistake I did when I walked away from him, you are better, stronger, than me”

Barbara didn’t reply Walter’s plea; she was silent for more than a few seconds and then hung up.

Several minutes later Walter found himself holding at his cell phone, motionlessly staring at his bedroom wall while tears streamed down his face. His emotions have been stewing together for so long that it would understandable if they'd all be mixed together now, just one thick, sticky, indeterminable mess, but no, Walter never been so sure before of what throbbed on his chest.

Guilt.

It was his fault, the ruin of his family, the death of his son… If Walter had any remaining doubt on that subject it had been wiped from his thoughts after Barbara’s call. The only question still echoing his Walter’s head was how he was supposed to live with himself with that certain weighing on his shoulders.

**********************

“Coffee?” Kurt asked placing a mug of black coffer in front of Blaine.  
Supporting his chin on his hands the Blaine looked up.

“Thanks”

“Do you think we should wake Walter up?” Kurt wondered taking a bite of his toast. “He is usually is the first one to wake up” 

“He is probably just tired” Blaine dismissed sinking on his chair. He wasn’t really sure if he wanted to deal with Walter. The events of the previous night were still too fresh in his memory.

Noticing the hurt expression that crossed Blaine’s factures Kurt sighed leaving his mug on the sink. “You don’t look so well” He said squeezing Blaine’s shoulders, he circulated the boy’s shoulders with his arms. “Do you want me to make chocolate pancakes?”

Blaine smiled leaning on Kurt’s warmth. He felt good, like home. “I am good, but thank you. I just have a headache, but is nothing, so don’t worry”

Still worried but convinced to give Blaine some space, Kurt didn’t asked any other questions resigning himself to only place light kisses on Blaine’s cheek “I will get you some aspirin then” he said before the doorbell rang starling both of them.

Kurt frowned. “Who could be at this hour?”

Blaine shrugged “I don’t know, Penny maybe?”  
“Yeah is probably her” Kurt hummed nodding. “Anyway I will get it” he smiled heading to the front door.  
The smile died on his lips in the moment he opened the door.

It was Tina. She seemed nervous, uncomfortable.

For what seemed forever the both of them just stared at each other hesitantly until Kurt broke the silence.

“What you want?” He demanded, blunt and dry. “If you are here to try to convince me how wrong “my life style is” please, don’t even bother-”

“No!” Tina cried “I-it’s not like that I am here to apologize” she said, eyes big and pleading.

Kurt frowned taken back “A-apologize?”

“Yeah” Tina rubbed the back of her neck nervously “I was stupid and I would like to try to explain myself”

Kurt raised an eyebrow, arms crossed above his chest. A big part of him wanted to listen what Tina had to said, after all for a long time she had been his only friend, but he wasn’t sure if could trust her, if this conversation wouldn’t end in more homophobic slurs. 

“You have five minutes” He said stepping outside of the apartment and closing the door behind him.  
Tina took a deep breath “Like I said I was stupid, I behaved like a jerk with you.” She looked up and Kurt didn’t seem impressed by her words, he still had his arms crossed above his chest and a skeptical expression on his face.

“I-I come from a very conservative family. And it surprised me see you like that with another boy.” She lied. Tina didn’t come from a conservative family. She didn’t even have a family.

“So you thought it was okay to judge me? To treat me as if I was some sort of freak?” Kurt retorted.

“I was confused Kurt! Please forgive me, I am really sorry for the way I treated you, you are one of my best friends I don’t want to lose you” She pleaded, her eyes burning with tears. Deep inside she secretly hoped Kurt wasn’t as generous and kind as she knew he was. She hoped he would deny her forgiveness and stay away from her.

Too bad that robot was too much of a good person to deny someone a second chance. “You are my only friend Tina, do you have any idea how much you hurt me?”

Tina nodded, eyes glued to the ground.

“You promise you won’t judge me like that anymore, that you won’t look down at me for who I love?” Kurt asked trying to keep his voice steady.

“I-I promise!” Tina squealed looking up. “And besides this Blaine is kind of cute”

Kurt chuckled, “Yeah he is”

Tina smiled “Can we be back to what we were then?” she asked hopefully “I promised I will make all the hot cocoa you and your boyfriend can drink”

Kurt smiled, “Friends then, with no judgment and all the hot cocoa benefits?” He asked raising a hand.

Tina smiled. “Friends” she said clenching his fingers between hers.

He grinned and his blue eyes were filled with such warmth and hope that Tina felt as if she was being punched in the stomach. “I-I kind have to go now” she couldn’t be around him any longer “You know, work”

“Right, right” Kurt nodded “So I will text you”

“Sure, and don’t forget to send me that ginger cookie recipe you promise me” Tina smiled, already turning her back to Kurt.

“Hey Tina wait!” Kurt called causing her to close her eyes and hesitate for a second before turn around with a forged smile on her lips. “Yes?” 

Kurt bit his lips, looking around “Please don’t tell anyone about me and Blaine”

Tina heartbeat speed up “So Walter doesn’t-”

“He is one of the reasons why it is a secret” Kurt blushed. “Well, at least for now, we will tell him eventually”

“I see…”Tina trailed off before squeeze Kurt’s shoulder reassuringly “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me”

**************************

Blaine gripped the coffee mug tightly, a large deep blue one with a Police Academy logo on it, chipped on the rim right above the handle, it was his father’s, older than Blaine himself.

He had heard Tina’s voice and was about to go check up on Kurt when the click of Walter’s bedroom door being opened and the man’s heavy steps as he crossed the hallway echoed in the small apartment. As if frozen on his spot, Blaine couldn’t bring himself to move until Walter entered the kitchen. Surprisingly the man didn’t say anything. He just stood there; hands bunched in an old sweatshirt looking as if hadn’t sleep at all.

“You look like shit” Blaine, not so kindly pointed before take a sip of his coffee.  
There was an unreadable but somehow painful expression on Walter’s face and for a while he just stared at his son as if afraid of speaking. “I talked with your mom” he finally said and Blaine felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck.

“Of course you did” The boy snorted.

Walter sighed tiredly. He knew Blaine had all the reasons in the word to act like that, he was hurt, feeling reject by his own mother over something he had no control about. 

“Blaine I am sorry about the way she reacted but Barbara loves you, and you sexuality didn’t change the way she feels about you. She just needs time to get used to the idea…”

Blaine had his jaw clenched, nostrils flared. “Do ever stop think that maybe her reaction changed the way I feel about her?” He gritted through his teeth. Blaine was tired of waiting for people to get used to him, to the things he liked, to who he was, that was just sick, always have to wait for those who he love to get their shit sorted before they are able to be in his live and love him for who he was.

“Blaine…” Walter tried to reach up for his son but the boy stepped way.

“Stop defending her! She certainly wouldn’t do the same for you” Blaine heard his voice rising and made the conscious decision of not to lower it.

“What I did with her, with y-you, that was inexcusable” Walter took a deep breath. He couldn’t even meet his son’s eyes, ashamed of himself, of the way his abandon had shaped his son in this untrusting, overly defensive person. “But B-Barbara is just confused, she comes from a very conservative family, give her some time, wait and see… She will come around”

“I already tried waiting once” Blaine snapped challengingly, glaring at Walter. “I didn’t work so well…”  
Walter closed his eyes, supporting himself on the kitchen table. “Blaine” he whimpered, part of him hated that it came out like he was begging, but he was, irrevocably and shamelessly begging for forgiveness, for Blaine’s trust,   
“I-I am so sorry I would give anything to-”

“Didn’t even crossed your mind talk about my sexuality with Barbara?” Blaine cut in, changing the subject.  
He couldn’t bring himself to once again have Walter apologizing for leaving. Blaine wasn’t ready to accept those apologies, hear them and consequently feel sorry for Walter would only make Blaine angrier at his father, angrier because the man’s stupidity didn’t only hurt Blaine and Barbara but himself. And that was a concept Blaine couldn’t deal with, at least not yet. Because yes, in some ways Walter was another victim of the mess their family had become, but nothing he could say or do would ever change the fact he left. And after years been told and telling himself, that Walter was the story’s bad guy, it was hard for Blaine accept the fact that maybe he still loved the bad guy, and that maybe this whole time he have been just waiting for the bad guy to come back and make everything right again.

“I thought you would tell her when you were ready. Sorry I am just horrible at this I guess" Walter’s voice was thick. Through the lumps constricting his throat he swallowed down further apologies, if the way the boy was rolling his eyes was any indication, Blaine didn’t want them.

Blaine let a humorless laugh. “Yes you are” he bit his lower lip and looked into his father wet eyes. Cooper used to have Barbara’s eyes but it was Blaine’s that had Walter’s and now there was so much pain there, it was like that mix of green and hazel was threatening to burst and spill at any moment. 

“But you weren’t always like that” the boy said and if someone asked him, Blaine wouldn’t know explain why he did that, why he offered comfort to his father.

“No?”Walter looked up and his eyes were so wide and he seemed so vulnerable that it was hard to tell he was forty-five years old man, respectable federal agent and former homicide detective.

And yeah, maybe Blaine did love the bad guy after all, because he could have stopped right there. He could have walked away or shut down but he didn’t. “Once you were the my hero, the best dad in the whole world…But that was until you left me behind wondering why I wasn’t good enough to make you stick around” 

Walter gaped horrified. He searched for his son eyes, trying to think in something to say, but Blaine still wouldn’t look at him, eyes down and splintering “That wasn’t the reason why I didn’t stay-”

A bitter and sharp smile cut its way across Blaine’s factures “It wasn’t it?” he asked and more than anything Walter wanted to belief that he was being ironic, that Blaine knew it that Walter’s departure wasn’t his fault, but there were such agonizingly self- depreciative undertones on the boy’s words that Walter couldn’t shake off the feeling that Blaine actually believed it that his father departure had been his fault. 

And how fuck up was that? That his son was looking Walter in the eyes not sure if he had been the cause of Walter’s absence, as if anything Blaine could have done as child could somehow justify his father’s indifference. For how long Blaine had been thinking like that? How many nights as a child he had spent awaken thinking that he wasn’t reason enough to make his father stay?

“No! Of course not!” Walter cried reaching up and gripping onto his son’s arms. 

Blaine didn’t flinch away as he usually did. Gazing tiredly at the older man’s face, he allowed his father clench at his arms. It didn’t change anything did it? “Too bad I spent ten years thinking like that then…” he said, practically murmured, hazel eyes locked at his father’s watching at his words dilacerate him inside out.

Maybe he did hate the story’s bad guy after all.

Walter let go of him and his arms feel flat on his sides. “Do you think I will ever be able to go back to what we were?” he said voice weak and pleading.  
With the back of his hands Blaine wiped tears he consciously didn’t felt falling. “Time doesn’t go back Walter”

Walter gave a step back, running his fingers through his curls. “So you think I could, I don’t know, be something else, not a hero, but maybe someone that is there for you?” He was so desperate, that he would take anything, the smallest hope, the most insignificant probability that maybe they could work things out. He just needed to ake things right with his son, with his boy.

“I don’t know,” Blaine said surprising himself with his honesty. “But I hope you find a way Walter, I really do” Maybe Blaine didn’t need to figure out if he loved or hated the bad guy just now, at least not yet.

**************************

“You were right” Tina sighed on her phone. Laid on her couch, engulfed by darkness of her apartment she covered her eyes with her hands.

_“Once I am always right, I guess you will have to be a little more specific”_

Rolling her eyes Tina grunted. “Walter doesn’t know about his son’s relationship with Project Metempsychosis, actually according with Kurt himself, Walter is one of the main reasons why their relationship is secret” 

A loud laugh echoed in the other side of the line. _“That is perfect, just perfect!”_

“So what we are going to do now?” Tina asked sick of her stomach.

_“We are going to wait until the perfect opportunity of using Project Metempsychosis’s little fling in our favor present itself and then we are going finally leave this behind us”_

Tina closed her eyes breathing deeply “Fine I will keep you updated”

**************************

Spread on his bed with his hazel eyes fixated on the roof, Blaine had his headphones on. He had replied over and over his conversation with his father and still hadn’t decided how he felt about it when his phone buzzed above the nightstand. A picture of Santana sticking her tongue out was flashing on its screen.

Groaning a little he picked up but didn’t even have time to talk before being interrupted. 

“I am throwing a party tomorrow and you better show up” Santana said blowing at her fresh painted red nails.

Blaine raised an eyebrow. “Oh good morning for you too Santana, how are you in this fine morning?” He said sarcastically, because seriously, some people didn’t have manners.

Santana huffed loudly and Blaine could practically see her rolling her dark eyes “Cut the crap I am mad at you” she said indignantly. 

Blaine sighed. He couldn’t even remember what he had done. “Do I want to know why?”

Putting her phone on speaker Santana rolled around her bed to get the nail polisher and the cotton from her nightstand “Why you didn’t tell me you and porcelain doll are dating?” she cried.

Blushing crimson red, Blaine naively tried to play dumb. “What are you talking about it?”

He should have known better.

Santana rolled her eyes, coloring her toenails with vivid red. “I am talking about the fact you and Kurt are dating and I had to go through Quinn’s texts to you to find out”

“Do you guys don’t know the term privacy?” Blaine cried upset “Seriously, you and Quinn have to stop going through other people’s messages”

“Now you are just trying to change the subject” Santana said unaffectedly inspecting her work. She smiled, because, damn, red was really her color. 

“I don’t even know what you are talking about” Blaine retorted, honestly considering hung up on Santana’s face. 

“Oh really?” Santana snorted, grabbing her purse, she rammed around a little before find Quinn’s phone. “So when you texted Quinn, and I are quoting here, “He makes me feel like I never felt before” you were just randomly quoting some Nicholas Spark’s novel or it was a Taylor Swift’s song? Because that sounds cheesy enough”

“You have Quinn’s phone?!” Blaine couldn’t believe it, Santana had actually pickpocket Quinn’s phone. “Did you steal from her?”

Santana gaped “I am offend Anderson, do you really think I would steal from one of my friends? You know very well my rules. I only steal from creepers that don’t stop staring my tits while I am talking with them. Quinn came around for our weekly unholy trinity meeting and forgot her phone” 

“And instead giving it back you decided go through her   
messages.” Because of course she would do that, apparently no one in that damn group understood simple concepts such as violation of privacy. “I am never texting any of you ever again” Blaine stated because seriously, what the fuck?

“Yeah right… And how you are going to spend your time on math class?” Santana opened her closet going through its mess after something to wear. “But back for the point, so its truth you and Kurt are dating?” she asked holding a black dress over her body in front of a mirror.  
Blaine bit his lower. There was no point on denying, but that didn’t men he knew how to explain the nature of his relationship with Kurt. “It’s not like that, I mean- It is complicated”

Santana rolled her eyes. “Let’s auntie Tana make easier than. Are you into him?”

Looking around to make sure no one was listening to their conversation Blaine murmured. “Y-yes”

“Do the two of you have been affectionate towards each other, and by that I mean romantically, as in kissing, holding hands and cuddling” Santana inquired throwing away the black dress. It didn’t match her earrings.

Blaine sighed. “There is point on this conversation besides embarrass me?” He was not admitting the cuddling, that word didn’t even exist on his dictionary.

“I will take that as a yes” Santana said zipping a high waist black skirt. “Have you screwing around other people?” she asked as if she was commenting on the weather.

“No” Blaine cried defensively. 

Santana raised an eyebrow to that. Blaine Anderson not sleeping around? The concept seemed a little hard to grasp. “Are sure? Not even a little?” She asked narrowing her eyes as she boned down to grab her high boots.  
“What that’s even mean?” Blaine frowned. There was the scale from sleeping around just a little to a lot? “How the hell you screw around just a little? You just kiss strangers but not get really in their pants?”

“Don’t play the innocent Anderson, I bet you already screwed someone just a little” Santana huffed a breath raising an eyebrow at her reflection, she didn’t like her shirt, it didn’t matched her boots. “Anyway, so you and Kurt are being romantic towards each other, you are really into him and obviously cares about him as you never cared for anyone before, once you actually stopped screwing around…Hmm I am sorry break this to you honey, but you two are dating. Commitment, exclusivity and feelings involved are basically the definition of serious relationship”

“I don’t-”

“So you are denying Kurt is your boyfriend?” Santana pressed.

Blaine ran his fingers through his curls “I am just not   
ready to label our relationship yet okay? Now can you please drop it?”

“Alright, alright” Santana breathed still not convinced.   
“But for the record, I am still mad at you”

“Mad at me?” Blaine snorted. “Santana, you are the one that invaded my privacy, I should be mad at you!” he pointed heatedly. 

Santana actually placed a hand above her heart dramatically “You and me hobbit?” she cried “We are friends, we are family. You should have told me about getting a boyfriend” And before Blaine could retort she kept going “Even if you are not ready to label him as such, what is stupid by the way” 

“Oh Fuck off Santana” Blaine grunted. So much double standard was killing him. “You didn’t told me about Brittany either! I didn’t even know who she was the first time you brought her to hang out with us”

Santana frowned, hands place on her hips. “I didn’t think   
I had to tell you”

“Why?” Blaine retorted impersonating Santana’s drama queen’s tone “Aren’t we friends, family?”

“That is not the reason I didn’t told you” Santana replied expression in frown, because seriously Blaine didn’t know about her and Britt? “I just thought you already knew, everyone knew! A tape of me and Brittany having sex leaked, didn’t you heard about “2 girls, 1 cat” it was all over the school”

“No I didn’t! And there was a cat on? That is just disgusting Santana.” It was even coming from Santana.

“It’s not like that! The kitten was cleaning the kitchen!!” She cried defensively. “But again, you are missing the point, you found yourself a boy toy and didn’t tell me and now I am angry” She wasn’t going let Blaine walk freely for have omitted such thing from her.

Knowing he wasn’t going to get Santana off his ass any time soon Blaine sighed. “I am going regret this, but alright Santana, what I have do to make you stop bothering me about this?” 

The Latina girl’s lips were curled into a mischievous smile. “I am feeling generous today. So in order to earn my forgiveness you just have to bring the booze for the party I am throwing for Lord Tubbington”

Blaine frowned. “Wait-who?”

Santana rolled her eyes. Sometimes Blaine acted as if he lived in another planet. “Britt’s cat”

Blaine smirked mockingly. “The one of sex tape?”

“Oh shut up” Santana cut in. “The party is tomorrow night, so use that little fake ID’s of yours, get some alcohol. Oh and bring lady lips with you, Britt loves to watch some boy on boy action”

Blaine couldn’t even reply before she hung up on him. 

Well apparently he was going to a party then.


End file.
